Wolf's Assistant
by VampyrePrincess13
Summary: Darren Shan may be a vampire, but Ella is no vampire, she is a werewolf. A dangerous tournament has been risen once again at the Cirque Du Freak. Ella has to face dangerous obstacles to arrive at the destination. Will she survive? Read on to find out!
1. Prologue

My name is Ella and I used to be a normal teenage girl until I became a wolf's assistant. It all started when my best friend, Jei, got us tickets to this show called the Cirque Du Freak, which I found out meant Circus of Freaks in french. I wasn't really interested, but it did seem interesting, so I went along. Now, I'm the type of person that are fascinated by wolves and one night, we went to the show and a lady came out and did some tricks with her pet wolf , her name was Lady Wolf and the wolf's name was Crescent and she could do some fascinating things. After the show, Jei and I decided to look around and we came across Crescent in Ms. Wolf's tent and we decided to play with her a bit, but little did we know, I was going to leave my normal life for good. At first, Crescent was playing nicely then for some odd reason, she got out of control and she bit Jei just as Lady Wolf came in. She explained to me that he real name was Ms. Okami and that she was the only one that knew how to cure the poison Crescent had put into Jei, but I had to agree to one thing…I had to become the wolf's assistant…meaning I wouldn't be able to see my family or friends anymore, my life would never be the same again. She also told me that she would teach me everything about being a wolf's assistant. I agreed and Ms. Okami cured the poison and Jei was as good as new. Then when it was dark, I had to sneak out of my room and leave everything in the past...Ms. Okami then had to put me in a coffin for one day and bury me underground then when night came again, she came and dug me out. Then she took me back to her tent in the Cirque Du Freak and she then pumped wolf blood into me, so now I am half wolf, half human, so much for the half human part. My days of being human were over, but my days of becoming half-wolf were just beginning...I am Ella and this is my true story of becoming the wolf's assistant...


	2. Home Sweet Home

"Are we there yet?" I complained.

"Almost." Ms. Okami said. We were traveling to the Cirque Du Freak because I was complaining earlier that I didn't have any friends because of my new wolf powers and the Cirque Du Freak must have at least one kid my age I can get along with. Even though my wolf powers doesn't make me tired as much, I was getting tired of seeing all the scenery around me although, it was peaceful. Then we reached a hilltop and I saw some tents just down the hill and I knew instantly it was the Cirque Du Freak.

Ms. Okami said, "We're finally."

I interrupted, "HERE!" It was morning, a little bit after 9 and I saw some performers walking around doing various things, then I walked with Ms.Okami and Crescent down to the tents. We walked to Mr. Tall's trailer and Ms.Okami knocked once and the door instantly opened, which surprised me. And there stood a tall man, he was the same when I saw him 3 months ago at the Cirque Du Freak show that I went with Jei.

"Ah, Diana, so nice to see you again." Mr. Tall said.

"Nice to see you again also, Hibernius. May we come in?"

Mr. Tall said, "Of course." I then followed Ms. Okami into Mr. Tall's trailer and I decided to stand up while Ms. Okami sat down.

"So, what brings you here, Diana?" Mr. Tall asked.

"Oh well, Ella was complaining earlier that she didn't have any friends her own age due to her new wolf powers and we were wondering if maybe Ella and I can come back to the Cirque Du Freak?" Ms. Okami was waiting for Mr. Tall to answer.

Mr. Tall stroked his chin, "Ah, I see…well, of course you can come back, Diana, we're always in need of performers since performers come in and out." Mr. Tall then looked over at me, "So, you're the one that stole Crescent? You look the same since I last saw you."

I started to feel my face get red, "Y-Yes, sir."

"Please, call me Mr. Tall." He then looks over at Ms. Okami, "If Ella wants to make some friends, I can have her bunk with Kira?"

"Who's Kira?" I got curious.

"You'll see." He said with a mysterious smile.

"Ok, that's fine, sounds like a good idea. Is my tent still around?" Ms. Okami asked.

"Of course, we kept it just in case you wanted to come back. It's where it usually is." Mr. Tall said.

"Thank you, Hibernius. I'll be on my way, Ella, listen to what Mr. Tall says, he'll lead you to Kira." Ms. Okami said and then Crescent got up and left with her.

I just stood there, looking at Mr. Tall. "Now, come with me Ella, I'll show you where Kira is, she's one of our newest performers, so I'm sure you two will get along fine." Mr. Tall then walked out of his trailer and I followed behind him as he closed the door behind us then he started walking.

"Thank you, Mr. Tall…I appreciate this." I said while still following him.

"Of course, anything for a new member of the family. Most of us have been together for so long, we feel like we're just one big family." He smiled and then as we walked I saw 2 boys working on their chores then one of them looked over at me and I blushed because he was good-looking then he waved at me and smiled then I waved and smiled back to him.

"Hey, Darren, what are you looking at?" one of the boys said.

"Oh, well there was a new girl, we should stop by her tent." The one called Darren said. "Sure, sounds good to me, but we need to finish our chores first." Darren's friend said. "Ya, I know" Darren said and they both went back to doing their chores.

Then Mr. Tall and I reached Kira's tent, "Here we are, just go right in and I'm sure you two will get along in no time. Oh, and here is a pillow and some blankets." He handed them to me and I took them and before I could say thank you again to him, he was gone.

I then shrugged as I went into the tent, it had some sunlight shining in it, so I looked around. "Hmm..nice place." Then when I was about to walk furthur, I stopped dead in my tracks as I felt something curl around my legs, my first thought was "What was it?"


	3. A New Friend

I stood frozen there for almost what seemed forever while I stared into the eyes of a small dragon. I never believed dragons existed, until now of course. The dragon then opened its mouth and almost burned me! I than heard the hammock rustle while a figure got up and yawned. The sunlight that shined in the tent to let me see that the figure was a girl. My first thought that she must have been Kira. She then saw the dragon wrapped around me and she giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"She was just welcoming you." Kira smiled as she came over to uncurl the dragon.

"Oh…that makes perfect sense." I said while trying to calm down my pacing heart.

"Hi, I'm Kira, you must be Ella, right?" she asked while offering her hand. She had long red hair and also had some red dragon scales on her arms and legs, well pretty much everywhere on her body. I nodded and shook her hand. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine." Kira said as she gently laid down her dragon. I'll show you around if you want." "Sure sounds great to me." I nodded. "Um…where do I sleep?" I asked while looking around the tent.

"Oh…hmm…over there." She said while pointing to an extra bed. I then put my things down and then went outside with Kira. She then showed me around although she was new herself. We first went to visit her sisters. The three of them lived in different tents, probably because they could take up a lot of room along with their pets. Kira was the middle sister. The youngest sister was Kristy, her act included a sea dragon. And the oldest sister was Krystal and her act included a fox. After we finished meeting them, we bumped into the boy I saw earlier, Darren and his friend.

"Oh, hi. You're that girl I saw earlier, right?" Darren asked and I nodded. "Hi, I'm Darren. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand and I shook it.

"Hi Darren, nice to meet you. I'm Ella." I smiled.

"And this is my best friend Evra." Darren said as he pointed out his friend.

I looked at Evra and he had snake scales all over his body just like Kira has with her dragon scales. "Are those snake scales?" I asked and Evra nodded. "Cool!" I shook hands with him. "Nice to meet you, Evra." I smiled.

"Evra's also my brother." Kira interrupted.

"I can see where the scales come from." I said sarcastically.

"You guys hungry? Evra and I were just on our way to get some food. You guys want to join us?" Darren asked.

"Sure, I'm starving and I haven't been able to eat much on the way here."

"I want to come too, I'm starving also." Kira said while she walked ahead with Evra, leaving Darren and I following behind them. As I followed them, I looked around the camp and there was so much activity going on. I saw performers and their helpers walking around doing various things.

"Welcome to the Cirque Du Freak." Darren chuckled as he saw me looking around the camp.

"Wow..I haven't seen anything like this before."

"Ya, I know what you mean…this is practically my home now. Oh, by the way, you're half wolf aren't you?"

"Ya, I am."

"I'm half-vampire…I guess we have something in common."

"How did you become to be a half vampire anyways? If you don't mind me asking that is."

Then Darren told me his story on how he became a half-vampire and his story was much similar to mines.

"Wow, that story is just like how I became a half-wolf. Another thing we have in common." I smiled.

"Ya, at first I hated becoming one, but I got used to it."

"Ya, I'm still getting used to this wolf blood inside me."

We then reached the area where they ate and I saw a lot of activity going on and it interested me.

"Oh, I'll introduce you to some of the performers." Darren said while Kira and Evra walked off to get some food. Darren introduced me to a lot of interesting performers. There was Hans Hands who was a man that can walk on his hands and do other interesting things. There was also Truska, the bearded lady. There were also more, but I forgot some of them. "Come on, let's get some food."

"Ok." I said while I licked my lips and followed Darren. We then got some soup and sat down outside with Kira and Evra.

Then sooner then I thought, it was nightfall, meaning some training with Ms. Okami. She taught me so many interesting things about a full wolf and on becoming a half-wolf.

"See you back at the tent and tomorrow morning, you're helping me with my chores, got it?" Kira said while smiling.

"Got it. See you back at the tent." I said my goodbyes to Kira and Evra then Darren walked me to Ms. Okami's tent.

"It was nice meeting you, Ella. See you around." Darren said while turning around and walking the other way.

"See you around." I said and I watched the boy who was the vampire's assistant walk away into the night. I then walked into Ms. Okami's tent and she was getting ready for our lesson.

"How did it go today, Ella?" Ms. Okami asked.

"I made new friends." I smiled as we both walked out of the tent into the darkness with only the moonlight guiding us.


	4. An unexpecting betrayal

It was the next morning and I didn't get much sleep last night with Ms. Okami's lessons and all. I did get enough sleep to wake up and help Kira with her chores. First chore was to feed the wolf-man. He was breathing heavily when he saw us coming with meat in the buckets and my heart was beating faster then usual. I haven't seen anything like that before.

"Don't worry, as long as you don't upset him then you're fine." Kira said as I followed her to the cage of the wolf-man.

"He already looks mad to me." I said while going next to Kira and throwing in a piece of meat like Kira did earlier.

"He's always like that." She said as the wolf-man calmed down and chewed on his piece of meat.

"Interesting." I said as we went to return the buckets and go on to our next chore. We did a couple more chores which weren't too hard, but some took a while to do.

While I was getting some water in the bucket which was for Krystal's fox and some of the other animals that were with the performers, some of the chores included helping some of the performers out also, I was standing up and then I turned around. I saw a boy, just around my age. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's o.k. My fault. I was wandering around the woods when I spotted you. Hi, I'm Leon." He offered his hand and I shook it.

I didn't trust him that much, but he seemed like a nice guy, "Hi, I'm Ella. So, what were you doing out here?" I said while picking up my bucket of water and started to walk back to the tents and Leon was following me.

"I just wanted to take a walk. I could ask you the same thing, what are you doing out here?" He had such gorgeous blue eyes and he was around the same age as me, he was blonde.

"I was getting some water for my…family." I lied, but the Cirque Du Freak was like my family.

"Well, here's my stop." I said while reaching the tents and then I spotted a wolf on his wrist. "Hey, cool tattoo."

"Oh this, this is like a birthmark. So, will I see you again?"

"I'll be around. Bye." I smiled while walking back to Krystal's tent. Then when I looked back, Leon was gone and I shrugged. I then finally reached Krystal's tent and I went inside. I poured the bucket of water in the water bowl for the fox then went back outside while putting the bucket just outside the tent. I then walked around the tents just to look around then I bumped into Darren.

"Oh hey Ella, didn't expect to bump into you." Darren said.

"Hey Darren, I was just walking around. By the way, have you seen Ms. Okami?" I said while looking around.

"Actually, I have…she was just in the tent talking to Mr. Crepsley. Come on, I'll take you to her."

I nodded and followed Darren and looked up at the sky, noticing that time does fly since it was almost dark. We then finally reached to the tent and I followed Darren in.

Ms. Okami spotted me. "Hi Ella, I was just talking to Larten over here, he's an old friend of mine."

Mr. Crepsley looked kind of scary at first, then he flashed a smile making him look friendly. He has a scar running along the left side of his cheek. Mr. Crepsley then bowed to me and I bowed back. "Nice to finally meet you, Ella."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Crepsley." I smiled so he wouldn't get a bad impression of me since I hate it when people think bad of me. My fangs were showing and I instantly closed my mouth. I almost forgot that I had fangs, my claws were also growing a bit too. I didn't really howl at the moon yet, but I'm progressing on my howl.

"Ready for tonight's lesson, Ella?" Ms. Okami asked.

"Yes." I nodded then looked over to Darren. "Sorry Darren, lessons call." I frowned since I was starting to get to know Darren better and I kind of liked him.

"Don't worry about it, I have lessons tonight too, they can be such a pain." He chuckled and I giggled.

Later that night after Ms. Okami told me to take a break, I was walking around when I heard something clang and it was coming from the cage of the wolf-man. I decided to go investigate and when I got there, the moonlight shined on the figure just enough for me to make out who it was. The figure of the person was…Leon! And he was holding something in his hands.

"Leon! What do you think you're doing?" I couldn't help but jumping out and stopping whatever he was doing while the wolf-man was growling at Leon.

He got startled and dropped the thing he was holding in his hands and turned to me. "Ella? What are you doing here?"

"I'm with the Cirque Du Freak, what are you doing here?"

"You mean…you're one of them?" I knew what he meant by one of "them"

"Yes, I am." Then I showed my fangs and my ears. I don't have a tail yet.

"I'm here to kill this...beast. He's dangerous!"

"He is not a beast! Get away from there!" I couldn't help but get mad, even though the wolf-man wasn't a personal favorite of mine, but he was still family.

"No, I'm here to do a job. I can't believe you're a…half-wolf. You can still get out of here Ella. Come join me and the wolf hunters."

"You're a wolf...hunter? NEVER! I will not kill my own kind. I rather die then kill my own kind."

"Suit yourself and to think you were…" He was trying to find the right word.

"Normal?" Just then Ms. Okami's voice came into range then I looked back to where her voice was then turned back to deal with Leon, but he was gone. I went to where the wolf-man's cage was, he calmed down already and picked up what Leon was holding. Just right then, I wished that I never even bumped into Leon.


	5. A Death to Remember

"Wait, so what is it?" When I found the thing Leon was holding that night, I went straight to Ms. Okami and then she went to Mr. Tall.

"It's a kind of poison to kill wolves." Ms. Okami said as she held up the shot filled with the poison. "You should have never bumped into him, Ella. This is what we get for interacting with mortals."

"It wasn't my fault. My powers aren't fully developed yet, so I couldn't tell if he was good or not."

Ms. Okami sighed, "Very well, just be careful. Get some rest, it's been a long night." She then turned to Mr. Tall. "Thank you, Hibernius." She nodded to him as she left the trailer.

"Ella, just be more careful of this Leon guy. He could be dangerous, especially to your kind." Mr. Tall said.

"I know. I'll be more careful. Thank you, Mr. Tall." I nodded to him as I left the trailer. I went back to our tent, Kira and I, that is. Did you ever feel like someone was watching you? Well, as I was going back to the tent, I did feel like someone was watching me, but as I looked around, there was no one there. I just shrugged and went back to the tent and as I layed down on my bed, I kept thinking about the poison and Leon and just everything else that could go wrong.

Morning came and as I got dressed, I heard a lot of commotion going on and I hurried up and put the remaining of my clothes on and went outside. Kira was outside with her sisters before me and so was Darren and Evra and pretty much everyone else in the Cirque Du Freak.

"What's going on?" I asked Kira as I spotted her in the crowd.

"I don't know... We just got here and there were people running around." Kira said.

Just then Darren and Evra came up to us. "Hey you guys, looks like someone loosened the wolf-man's chains and now they're trying to calm him down." Darren said and I instantly went through the crowd to the wolf-man's cage and just then the wolf-man jumped on top of and he pinned me down. He sniffed me as the crowd started to back away and then he got off of me and he ran into the forest like he was after somebody. Darren helped me up, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, "Ya, I'm fine." I then brushed myself off and went to Ms. Okami as she was about to head into the forest. "Ms. Okami." I said while I was catching my breath. Then when I caught my breath, I focused back on what was going on.

"Ella, did the wolf-man hurt you?" Ms. Okami asked as she was checking for any bruises or scars in my body.

"No, I'm fine. What I really don't get is why he didn't hurt me."

"Wolves don't hurt other wolves except if they really hate each other. When the wolf-man caught your scent, he knew that you were a wolf, so he just left you alone."

"The wolf-man looked like he was after somebody..." I had a feeling who he was after.

"He must be after Leon, that night when Leon tried to kill the wolf-man. He must be out for revenge." Ms. Okami looked worried.

"We have to help him." As I headed for the forest, I heard the wolf-man howl. There was no full moon because morning had just risen. I thought he must be angry since he knew Leon was nearby. Even though Leon hunted down our kind, I knew it was still wrong to let him be eaten by the wolf-man.

"Ella! Come back! It's too dangerous!" Ms. Okami yelled after me, but I didn't dare turn back and kept on running into the forest.

Every once in a while, I heard the wolf-man's howls and they sounded distant meaning I had to run faster. I can't run as fast as I used to because I haven't eaten animal meat in a while. I didn't like the idea of killing innocent animals, but I eventually got over it and accepted the fact that I needed it to live. I have been searching for hours and next thing I knew it, the sun was about to set. I got tired and decided to sit down on a log and catch my breath then I sniffed the air. I smelled...water! I was thirsty, so I got back up again and found a nearby lake. I bent down and since my claws were growing, I plunged my claws in the grass to keep me from falling over and bent over to drink from the lake. After a couple of sips, I sniffed the air and I now smelled...meat! I looked right ahead of me and saw a rabbit and I licked my lips. I was starving, so I decided to catch the rabbit and well, you know the rest. I then got up slowly, not to make a sound or else it would run away from me then I ran as fast as I could then I pounced on the rabbit then I sunk my fangs on it's neck so I can paralyze it. A wolf can paralyze its prey by biting it on their neck with their fangs, like a vampire. It worked then I started eating the poor rabbit. When I finished, there were only bones left and I licked the bones. I felt good as new. I then heard the bushes rustle then I got up and stood my ground. My tail has grown just like Ms. Okami's and my ears also, I just need to wait for my claws to grow. My tail and ears came out and half of my claws came out and I growled. Then the figure came out and again the moon provided some light for me to see who the figure was. It was Darren. When I saw it was him, I put my claws back in, but kept my ears and tail out just for fun. I tried to calm down my heartbeat.

"Darren! What are you doing here?" I said.

"We got worried, so Ms. Okami sent me out here to find you. My vampire powers come to good use. I heard someone crunching down on something and thought it was this Leon guy, but it was really you. Have you found them yet?"

I shook my head, "No luck yet. Man, the wolf-man sure is fast. But I'm ready to keep looking." I then started into the forest again and Darren followed after me. Just then, I heard a howl and it was closer this time. "Want to run? We're this close to finding them."

"Sure." He nodded and then nodded back at me and then we ran as fast as we could to where the howl was and then when we both got there, we saw Leon backing up to a tree with a gun and the wolf-man closing in on him. "Leon!"

Leon then looked over at me and so did the wolf-man then the wolf-man didn't have any interest in me or Darren since I had a feeling Darren dealt with the wolf-man before. We then nodded to each other and we both ran and grabbed Leon and then we ended up at this old railroad station. It was abandoned, so it was the perfect place to hide. We let go of Leon and then we heard the howl again. Meaning, the wolf-man was mad that we stole his prey.

"What are you guys doing here?" Leon asked, puzzled.

"We're here to save you, even though you're one of the wolf hunters. But we know it's wrong to leave you to die when the wolf-man eats you."

"Oh, well I didn't need your help." Leon said as he walked towards the railroad station and into one of the abandoned sheds.

"Hey! We were trying to do you a favor! The least you can say is thank you!" I was frustrated that Leon didn't accept our help. We both ran after him, but then I sniffed the air and I smelled...wolf blood! I turned around slowly and I saw the wolf-man, panting heavily and on all fours. He then ran toward us and I tried to stop him from getting Leon, although he was already in one of the sheds, hiding. Instead, the wolf-man punched me and knocked me out. I was alone, lying on the floor and darkness was consuming me.

When I woke up, there was no one around me. I quickly stood up and my neck was pretty stiff. I stood up and tried to sniff the air to see where the wolf-man has gone now. Then I also remembered Leon. I looked around, but still nothing. I then caught the scent of wolf blood and I also heard...crunching sounds, could it be! Leon! I then ran back into the forest and saw the wolf-man sitting over a body then that's when Mr. Tall came in and said something to the wolf-man softly in his ears then he got off and calmed down. I walked over to Leon and I was staring down at a body that was torn from the stomach and most of his vital organs were ripped apart. I knew he had no chance of living now. I bent down and closed his eyes and Ms. Okami walked up to me and put a shoulder on my arm.

"Remember what I said about wolves being able to put some memories in them from a friend when that friend is dying?"

I nodded, "Ya, I know what to do."

Ms. Okami nodded, "I'll be right over there if you need me." She walked away and I saw that Darren was with Mr. Crepsley, talking. I then bent down to his lips, not kissing them, I sucked in my breath and a blue line was going out of his mouth and into mines and that's when I knew that I was saving some of his memories inide me. After a wolf has done this, he or she could eat the body or bury it. I decided to bury the body, since I wasn't too fond of eating human meat yet. When I was done, Ms. Okami came over with Mr. Crepsley and Darren. They dug a hole while Darren and I just sat there with the body of Leon and watched Ms. Okami and Mr. Crepsley dig. It only took them a couple of mintues since they were stronger then us. Darren and I then put the body in the hole, the hole wasn't too deep and so the police or whoever else can find the body and not let it stay here forever. Mr. Crepsley and Ms. Okami then put back some of the dirt on the body, just letting the hands being revealed. I then looked around and then I found a flower. I came back and put the flower on top of the dirt that was covering the body. I looked up at the moon and howled. I wasn't howling because of Leon's death, but was howling for the new memories within me.


	6. Romance under the Moonlight

It took a while for things to cool down after that accident with the wolf-man and Leon, but it's been two months since that accident happened and I still feel his memories within me. I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night because I had a flashback of his past. Back to the present, it's been 3 hours ago since Kira and I woke up. We were walking when we spotted a poster.

"Hmm...the poster says that there's going to be a tournament next week." Kira said as she was reading the poster.

I pushed her aside gently, "Sounds interesting. It says you need a partner. It'll be held at..." My eyes widen as I read the name of the place. "Death Mountain…" I haven't heard of that place, but it didn't sound like a good place.

"How does Mr. Tall expect us to get there? Hardly anyone survives going through Death Mountain." Kira said. I can tell she knows a lot about this Death Mountain.

I slowly turned around to Kira, "Gee, thanks, that makes me feel loads better." Although it did seem interesting. "Want to enter?" I asked Kira, taking my chances.

"Sure, sounds fun." Kira said, sounding confident. Kira and I had been best friends ever since I moved into the Cirque Du Freak.

We went to see if Darren and Evra were going to enter. We got to their tent and they were inside, just relaxing.

"Oh hey Ella, Kira." Darren said as he sat up.

"Hey." we both said in unison.

"Hi sis, Ella." Evra said, sitting up as well.

"Hi." I said, smiling.

"Hey, did you two see the poster for the tournament?" Kira asked.

"Ya, sure did. Evra and I are going to enter." Darren said, also sounding confident.

"Good luck, you two." I said, smiling.

"You'll need it when Ella and I kick your butts!" Kira said, laughing.

"Not in a million years." Evra said, laughing also.

I couldn't help but letting out a little giggle and Darren noticed. He got up and went to me and grinned, "Good luck."

"Ya, ok you two lovebirds." Kira said coming and separating us.

I couldn't help but blush at that comment. As my friendship with Darren grew, my feelings for him grew. I wonder if he feels the same…I did catch a glimpse of Darren blushing also. Then I remembered Kira and I were going to get something to eat, "Hey Evra, Darren, want to come with Kira and I to get breakfast?"

"Sure." Darren said. "We're starving."

"Yup, let's go." Evra said, getting up also and they both walked out with Kira and I following behind them. When we got to the food area, I didn't eat much even though I was starving, but my hunger passed. I was thinking too much about how the tournament would be.

It was the day of the tournament. Kira and I woke up early to do our chores, since the tournament rules were in the morning. When we finished, we went back to the tent and washed up. We then heard a lot of talking coming from outside and I had a feeling people were gathering for the tournament rules already. Kira and I finished up then went outside and saw everybody from the Cirque Du Freak gathered around and there were also some other magical creatures I haven't seen before that were probably from the forest nearby.

"Wow..that sure is a lot of people." I said in astonishment.

"Ya, I know. We'll have to get used to it." Kira said as she spotted Evra and her sisters. "Hey!" Kira called them over and they came to us.

"Hey Ella." Darren said as I blushed a little.

"Hey Darren, Evra. Kristy, Krystal…I didn't know you two were entering also."

"Ya, it was a last minute thing. We wish you the best of luck, you four." Kristy said.

"Thanks. We wish you luck, don't we Kira?"

"Yup, good luck sisters Evra and Darren."

"When are they going to announce the rules?" Krystal asked.

"I don't know, it should be…" I was interrupted by the loudspeakers. "There you go." I smiled.

Mr. Tall was up there with some other people I didn't recognize, "Silence please!" The crowd became silent minutes later, "Thank you and welcome to the Cirque Du Freak tournament! This is the first time we've done this in a while because the last time we tried this, well..you don't want to know. Anyways, as you all have read on those posters, you will need a partner, you are allowed to bring your mentors if you like, this mostly applies to the children. Your first task of this tournament is to get past Death Mountain. It's not as easy as it sounds or looks for that matter. There are different obstacles to avoid, keep on the lookout. There are different check-in points, since Death Mountain would take around 3 days or even longer to get through. You have to check-in at all the points, if you don't then you will be disqualified. There are 5 check-ins total. It's for your own safety to check-in with our judges, the ones behind me, there will also be other people to be at the check-in points. You then have to check-out when you're ready to leave. Think of it as a short hotel break except you'll be in the woods instead. The journey to Dark Mountain doesn't start till tomorrow morning, you are free to leave whenever you like. As for our tents, we will pack them up as soon as everyone has left. We do not guarantee all of you will live through this journey. You are welcome to back down anytime you like. We are not forcing any of you to join this tournament, it's just a small event we would like to try again to see which one of you are well skilled. After you get to Death Mountain, you will get a couple days worth of rest until the real tournament starts. Again, we wish you all the best of luck and a safe journey and we hope we will see all of you there…alive. Now, if you would like to sign up, please sign up at those tables over there. You will then get a number. Oh, and as for us, we will see you all at Death Mountain. One more thing before I withdraw, you can take anything you like, most of your things will be at Death Mountain already, so travel light. Get enough things to last you. As for the prize, well, that won't be announced till during the real tournament. Don't worry too much about the prize and the real tournament. Good luck to all." After Mr. Tall finished, people started to scatter to sign up. The 6 of us lined up to sign up for the tournament and for what seemed lie hours, I finally got up to the front. I signed up on the clipboard and there were at least 3 pages already filled. Kira then had to sign next to my name since she was my partner.

"Here's your number, you two. Good luck."

"Thank you." Kira and I said to the lady as we took our numbers and got out of line to wait for Darren, Evra, and Kira's two sisters to sign up.

"Hey, lucky number 5." Kira said as she put her number in her pocket.

"Yup, they also gave us the rules, just in case we forgot them probably." I said as I put my number in my pocket also.

"Hey you two." Darren said as he went over to us with Evra.

"Hey to you too." I said, trying to flirt a little, but I was bad at it.

"Hey sis, want to help Krystal and Kristy out with her chores? Darren and I already did ours." Evra asked.

"They are so lazy, it's so typical of them to not do their chores before coming here."

"What did you just say, squirt?" Krystal came over with their sister Kristy.

"You heard what I said." Kira said as they went away from Darren and I. "See you later, Ella and Darren!" The siblings then started to argue a bit as they kept walking.

"You two finished your chores didn't you?" Kira asked.

"Yup." Kristy said.

"You are one evil brother, Evra." Kira said.

"Ya, I know." Evra laughed.

I was so going to kill Kira for leaving us alone, then again, I enjoyed every last minute of it.

"So, Ella, when are you going to leave for Death Mountain?" Darren asked.

"I don't know, I guess I'll let Ms. Okami decide. I wish you the best of luck, Darren. I know you'll get through Death Mountain." I smiled.

"Thanks. Good luck to you too and I'll see you at Death Mountain." Darren smiled. 'Oh, hey! I almost forgot, I have one small chore to do, want to help me?"

"Sure." I then walked beside Darren as we went to his tent. "Ok, what did you need me to help you with?"

"Well, first. I need to change, so please if you don't mind." Darren said.

"Oh, sorry. I blushed a little as I stood outside the tent and waited for Darren to finish changing. I then heard a thumping noise and my eyes widened, "Darren! You alright?" My eyes were still on the scenery outside.

"Ya, sorry. I must have been changing too fast." He laughed a little then came out in a shirt and jeans, a typical outfit for a teenage boy, "Ok, ready. Ok, so today was our turn to serve in the soup kitchen today, well serve lunch to the family. I don't mind doing it with you, if you don't mind."

"Oh, sure. I've never been on lunch duty before. It should be fun." I smiled.

"Ok, it's settled. Come on." I then walked beside Darren and a couple minutes later we arrived at the area where lunch was served. We usually have lunch outside since we're traveling a lot. It would be nice to have lunch inside a real building for once. We then put on an apron and I was in charge of handing out whatever they wanted. Today's lunch was burgers and fries. I thought it looked delicious. There was also salad and some other things I did not recognize. "Here, you go." I said as I handed Truska her burger and fries.

"Thank you, Ella. I see you're dressed for a very special occasion." She winked at me.

"Your welcome and no I'm not, I dress like I do everyday." I laughed a little as Truska went to go get a drink.

After we finished, we got some of our own lunch and we met up with Kristy, Krystal, Kira and Evra. We found a place to sat and ate our lunch.

"I am so going to kill you later." I whispered to Kira.

"Only if you can catch me." She whispered back.

"Oh, don't worry, I will. You guys were in on this too, weren't you?" I said glaring at Kira's family. Darren already went to go get drinks.

"Hey, don't look at me. It's the genius over here that thought of it." Krystal said in a sarcastic voice.

"Evra? Huh, come here Evra." I said while putting a finger geture up to make him lean over.

"Y-You're not going to do anything to me, are you?" Evra stammered.

"Of course not, I would never do that. Closer." Evra then leaned in closer and I hit him on the head. "Hmph! That's what you get!" I laughed as the sisters laughed also.

"Ella really got you there, Evra." Darren chuckled as he handed my drink and he sat down with his.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Darren said as he took a sip. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Ella and I was just talking about how we would get through Death Mountain. Isn't that right, Ella?" Kira said, nudging me a bit.

"Yup." I said while rubbing my arm and smiling nervously.

After we finished out lunch, we just hung out with some of the other members of the Cirque Du Freak, then next thing you know it, it was nightfall. Kira had already gone back to the tent, leaving me alone with Darren, yet again.

"It's almost dark, I better get back."

"Ok, good luck again." Darren said as he turned the other way around then I turned also, but then I was stopped by someone grabbing my wrist and that hand turned me around as our lips met and my heart was beating so fast to even stay inside my body. I closed my eyes and enjoyed every second of that kiss and when I opened my eyes…the lips were Darren's!

"Darren?! What was that for?" I said while Darren was still holding my wrist gently.

"Oh sorry, I shouldn't have done that. How stupid of me…I just thought that if I don't see you again, then our last memory together should be...this."

"Oh…"I was still blushing like mad and my heart was still beating as faster then ever. "No, don't apologize. It's fine." I then leaned up and gave him a small peck on the lips, "Goodnight, Darren." I smiled as I parted from him. I was about to turn when Darren still had his hand on my wrist and he turned me around as our lips met once again with his arm around my wait, pulling me closer to him. I heard someone watching us and I knew it was Ms. Okami, she probably was looking for me. I didn't care because I didn't want this moment to ever end…ever. As the moonlight shone down on us, we enjoyed every last second of our kiss before our journey to Death Mountain tomorrow.


	7. An Unexpecting Reunion

"It was so romantic, Kira." I said as I turned around to my best friend, but saw that she was sleeping. "Kira!"

"Huh? What? Oh ya, ya, it was romantic, uh huh." Kira said as she turned to face the other way and I went over to sit at her bedside.

"Come on, Kira. Ms. Okami said we have to leave at 8 AM and it's like a three day hike to get through Death Mountain. It's almost…" I check my watch. "And it's almost 7 AM. Come on, we have to get ready." I said as I keep nudging Kira.

"Ugh..just 5 more minutes.." Kira said as she swiped my hand away.

"Hmph!" I then got up as I finished putting on the remaining of my clothes then I looked around as I smirked. "Hmm…" I then put my hand down as my claws came out from both hands and then went to the wall as I started scratching. No movement from Kira..yet. I then kept scratching louder as she instantly sprang up.

"Ok, ok, I'm up, just stop that scratching. Ugh.." She then got up as she started putting on her clothes.

I retracted my claws as I sat down on my bed. "Am I good or what?" I laugh.

"Ya, ya." Kira said as she wearily put on her clothes.

"I wonder if Darren is awake yet.."

"I don't know. Want to go over there and check?" Kira asks.

"Sure, just as soon as you're done getting dressed." I said as I stood up and went outside to breathe in the fresh air. The sun was just rising. I then got pulled on the wrist and it was Ms. Okami.

"Ms. Okami, we were just getting…"

"No time to explain, we have to leave..NOW!"

"What? Why? We don't leave for another hour."

"I'll explain…" Ms. Okami said as screaming came from the other side of the Cirque Du Freak.

"What's going on?!" Kira said as she came out.

"We're being under attack! You two get your stuff, we have to leave ..NOW!"

We nod and we both quickly went back into our tent to do some last minute packing then we came out with both our backpacks on, " Ok ready!"

There was an announcement over the speakers, "Everybody, please remain calm and please evacuate and head for your destination immediately. I repeat, we are being under attack. Please remain calm."

"Come on, Darren. We have to leave now." Evra said as he kept pulling on Darren's arm.

"But I want to see Ella before we leave…"

"There's no time for that, I'm sure she'll be fine. She has Ms. Okami and Kira. Come on." Mr. Crepsley said as he pulled on Darren's arm as Evra followed behind.

Then there was an explosion coming from Darren's direction. "Darren!"

"Come on, I'm sure he's fine. Come on, we have to…" An arrow then came out of nowhere and pierced me in the leg and I howled like I never howled before because of the piercing pain in my leg.

"Damn it, I missed."

"I told you to let me handle this one, you never listen." The two that were fighting then appeared in front of us. They looked like ninjas, of course their face was covered.

"Take Ella and get out of here!"

"But what about you?" Kira asked as she put my arm around her shoulders.

"I'll be fine, just get out of here. I'll catch up to you later. Crescent, you know what to do." Crescent then bowed as Ms. Okami transformed into a wolf as Kira and I escaped into the forest. The last thing I heard were the arrows and swords clanging. As Kira and I were going in the forest, an arrow nearly missed us. It landed straight into the tree next to us. We turned around as we saw one of the ninjas from before.

The ninja then went to the arrow as he took it out and put it back in his arrow case.

"W-What do you want?" Kira said as she tried to brace me.

"I can handle this." I said as I moved away from Kira and tried to brace myself, "If you were a real man, you would reveal yourself."

The ninja then took off the cloth that was covering his mouth and it revealed not a man, but a woman.

"Well..I didn't expect that.." I then slumped to the ground as the arrow was still in my leg.

"Stay still." The ninja said as she approached us, but I got my claws out just in case. She then kneeled down and poured a powder on my leg as she slowly got out the arrow as she ripped one of her sleeves and wrapped it around my wound so it can stop bleeding.

I then put my claws to her neck as I stood up clumsily as she stood up as well, "Why did you help me?"

"Because..of this." She then revealed her whole face as I recognized who she really was.

"E-Emma? Is that really you?" I lowered my guard as my claws retracted. "I thought you were dead…"

"Well, I was on the verge of dying when these people saved me. They either told me to either join their army or they could leave me there to die." Emma said.

"What are you doing, Ella? She's one of them." Kira said as she walked up to me with Esmeralda, her dragon, beside her.

"No, it's ok, Kira. Emma was my best friend when we were little. I can't believe you're still alive..after all these years." I said as I hugged her.

I then heard more explosions, "But..why are you guys attacking us?" I asked as I went back to Kira's side.

"That's what our army is, we wipe out well…" Emma stayed silent for a bit until I realized what she meant to say.

"Freaks? Like Kira and I?"

Emma nodded slowly, "Wait.." She then raised her head and looked at me, "When did you become one of them?"

"Long story. .." Then there were yelling coming over from the direction of the Cirque Du Freak site.

"Hurry, get out of here. They're coming." Emma said as she tried to push us along.

"But what about you? Won't they find out about you helping us out?" I asked as I kept being pushed by Emma.

"Don't worry about me. Until we meet again." Emma said as Kira pulled on my arm and we ran deeper into the forest.

Arrows started shooting at us, but they all missed. Except one that almost hit me on the leg again.

"Whew that was close." I said as we kept going into the forest.

"Are you sure we're not lost? I've never been to this part of the forest before." Kira said as she looked around.

"Who were they?" one of the ninjas asked.

"Oh just a couple of hikers. Is the job done?" Emma asked.

"Yup, master will be so proud."

I then got out a map that showed where the check points are and where to go. And to think this would be easier than I thought especially with a map.

We then heard rustling as we quickly got up.

"W-What is that?" Kira said as she backed up a little. "Do you think it could be those ninjas again?"

"There you two are!" Ms. Okami said as she is followed by Crescent.

"Ms. Okami!" I ran to hug her. "Are you alright?"

"Ya, I'm fine. How about you two, are you two alright?" Ms. Okami said as she hugged me back.

"Ya, we're fine." I said. "Wow, there's not a bruise on you."

"Ya, remember what I told you? Wolves are just like vampires, they can heal at a quicker rate."

"Oh ya.." I then look at my bandaged wound.

"What happened?" Ms. Okami asked.

"I got hit by an arrow." I said as I unwrapped the wound, the wound was slowly healing, all that was left was a scar. "Wow, being a wolf rocks."

"You're ok to walk now right?" Ms. Okami asked.

"Yup, what about you Kira?" I said as I turned around to Kira.

"All ready to go." She smiled.

"Ok, we better get going, this is going to be a long journey." Ms. Okami said as I gave her the map.

I knew this was going to be a long, tiring, adventurous, but dangerous journey.


	8. The Waterfall of Tranquility

"Are we there yet?" Kira complained.

"You're kidding me, right? We just left around 3 hours ago. The first check in point isn't for another...oh..I don't know…10 HOURS!" I told Kira as I followed behind Ms. Okami.

"Aww, man…can we at least rest? I'm starting to get hungry…" Kira found a rock as she sat on it.

"I told you to eat more when we left, Kira." I look over at Ms. Okami, who's been reading the map. "Can we rest, Ms. Okami? Kira here keeps complaining."

Her pet dragon, Esmeralda, shot fire out of her mouth that burnt my butt.

"Haha!" Kira laughed. "That's a good girl." Kira pets Esmeralda.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I start to run around like crazy as I find a small lake then jumped in as I let out a sigh of relief. "Ahh..grr..you are so going to pay for that!" As I start to stand up from the water, I then noticed a waterfall as I heard a beautiful song coming from the other side. As my curiosity strikes me, I start to walk to the waterfall, remembering the pain in my leg, I flinch a little, but kept going on.

"Ella! Ella! Where did you go?!" I heard Kira's voice in the distance as I tried to snap out of it, but it seemed like I was sort of..hypnotized.

No matter how many times the voices of concern hit me, it was like something controlled the inside of me, not wanting me to snap out of this fantasy world I had entered. I started walking forward and into the waterfall, as I did, I was suddenly in a different place. I looked around as this place seemed familiar. Then I recognized it was the hospital I was born at...if this was the hospital then…I quickly turned around to see my mother on the hospital bed, she was giving birth to me. It's like deja vu all over…again. If my mother was giving birth then…

"MOM! NO!" No one could hear me, maybe this wasn't real, but it sure felt real since this happened so long ago…As I heard the cry of the newborn which was evidently me, I walked over to the bed as I looked down at the baby that damned my mom. There was a sudden beeping sound as my mother fell limp, the newborn started crying wildly as the nurses took away the baby and tended to my mother.

"WE NEED THE CRASH CART IN HERE NOW!" One of the doctors ordered the nurse. It seemed that my mom was flat lining with her heart rate…The doctor hurriedly applied some gel on the paddles while he put both of the paddles on my mom's chest "CHARGE!" Nothing…" AGAIN!" Still nothing…They kept doing it around 5 times… "Time of death…12:00 A.M." This was the day my mother had died giving birth to me…Friday September 13, 1991.

"Ella?? Ella?? I can't seem to.." Kira then caught a glimpse of the waterfall as she too was hypnotized.

"Kira? Kira??" Ms. Okami ran to where she heard the waterfall as she saw Kira on her knees . "Kira!" Ms. Okami ran to Kira as she tried to help Kira up until she saw the waterfall and heard the faint singing.

"Oh, no..this isn't good. It's the Waterfall of Tranquility. Remember the obstacles the Cirque Du Freak was talking about? Well this is it. The Waterfall of Tranquility first lures you in with a voice that's singing, like a hypnotic type of singing. If you have enough will power or something that can intervene you from walking in the waterfall, then you will be able to snap out of it. Once you enter inside the waterfall, you will be taken back to the past, your worst memories. This is only a low level obstacle, although some people didn't snap out of it in time and they tend to become comatose."

"So..if Ella doesn't snap out of it soon, she'll…" Kira looks at Ms. Okami for some hope in her face as Ms. Okami nods her head and Kira's eyes widen as she weakly stands up. "Come on, Ella..I know you're stronger then this…"

"Come on, Darren. Ella's fine." Evra said as he kept on walking.

"You don't know that do you? Who knows what could have happened to her?!" Darren plumped onto the rock nearby as he buried his hands in his face.

"Wow, this Ella girl must have had a lot of effect on you besides that one girl you met a while ago." Evra said as he patted Darren's back for reassurance.

"Ya, I know. I mean I really like her, I've never met anyone like this before. If anything were to happen to her…"

Mr. Crepsley interrupted, "Don't worry, Darren. Ella will be fine. She has Ms. Okami with her, she's a fine teacher."

Darren sighed as he got up from the rock, "I guess you're right. Let's keep going."

"How much longer is it to the first check point anyways?" Evra asked.

"According to this map, it should be around 7 more hours." Mr. Crepsley said.

"Man..seriously? Wow..who knew this journey would be so long." Evra complained.

"You did, idiot. When they told us the rules." Darren smacked Evra on the head.

"Oh ya, right. And was that hit really necessary?" Evra rubbed the back of his head.

"Mom? Mom?" I walked over to the limp body of my mother as the nurses were putting away the crash cart as the lights started to turn off one by one with only few footsteps in the distance as only one light was left on and that was the light that shone on my mother's body. I looked down at my mother as I caressed her arm, "Oh why mom…" Something caught my eye on my mom's arm as it was a bracelet, I looked closely until an arm grabbed my arm as I looked as to who or what was grabbing me, my mom looked at me with her pale face as she kept repeating over and over, "This is all your fault..YOU KILLED ME!"

I tried to free myself from her grasp, but her grasp was too strong, "Mom..please..let me go.."

"You killed me…Now you shall suffer like I did…"

I kept shaking my head with tears in my eyes, "No, No, I didn't do anything, NOO!!!" My mom loosened her grip as I fell to the floor with my face buried into my hands. The corpse got up from the bed as she started towards me, I closed my eyes so she can end all of this quickly and painlessly.

"Ella? Ella?" Kira shook the body that was on the floor of the grass. "Ms. Okami, Ella isn't waking up."

"This vision she's been brought back to, it must have been pretty powerful." Ms. Okami was then interrupted by a rustling of the bushes. Crescent then got up as she bared her fangs and started to snarl. "Who's there?!"

"I didn't think we would bump into you here, Diana." Mr. Crepsley appeared from the bushes along with Evra and Darren.

"Ah, Larten. I can see you survived that fiasco back at the Cirque Du Freak. Were there any that didn't make it?" Ms. Okami went to hug the vampire.

"I'm not sure, I think everyone should have gotten out safely." The vampire hugged back.

"Nice to see you again, Darren and Evra." Ms. Okami acknowledged.

"Nice to see you again also, Ms. Okami." Evra nodded his head. "Um..where's my sister?"

"She's right over there, you can go see her if you like. Hi Darren." Ms. Okami smiled.

"Oh, hello, Ms. Okami." Darren smiled weakly.

"What's wrong with Darren?" Ms. Okami whispered to Mr. Crepsley.

"Oh, well, he's been dead worried about Ella, say wasn't she traveling with you? Where is the young lady?" Mr. Crepsley looked around as he sees Kira trying to cover the body so Evra and Darren doesn't have to worry.

"Oh well…as you can see, Ella's still in her vision from the Waterfall of Tranquility." Ms. Okami explained.

"The waterfall, you say? I didn't think they would make the waterfall one of the obstacles. Any luck on trying to get her out of it?"

"No, we tried everything, only one thing left to do is wait and hope she gets out of that vision." Ms. Okami looked over at Ella worryingly.

"Come on! What are you trying to hide, sis? Let us see!" Evra tried to get a look at what Kira was hiding.

"Stop it! I told you I'm not trying to hide anything!"

"I know you are, now let me…"

"You two, shush." Darren made Kira and Evra stop fighting as he tried to get a better listen. "That singing..that can't be.." Darren goes over to Kira as he pushes her aside ad Evra catches her. "Ella? Ella?!" He kneels down at the body as he tries to shake the body awake. "Ella? Can you hear me? It's Darren, please wake up." Darren turns over to Ms. Okami, "How long has she been like this?"

"Well, we can't really…"

"HOW LONG!"

"20 minutes the least."

"The expiration time is an hour…she still can get out of it, right?" Darren looks around at the concerned faces. "Right?"

"Darren, you know that not all people come out of their vision they were sucked back into, there's a 50-50 chance of survival on this."

"I know she'll come out of it..I just know she will." Darren strokes Ella's hair calmly.

"What if she doesn't snap out of it, Ms. Okami? Do we just leave her here?" Kira asks.

"Well, no. We have to bring her with us and see if she progresses."

"I think it's best if we carry Ella along with us now. The check point is pretty far from here and it's best if we make us of our time. That way when we arrive there, we can give Ella a bed to rest on." Mr. Crepsley suggested.

"I think Larten's right. We have to make best use of our time as quickly as possible, who knows what other obstacles might be out there?" Ms. Okami spoke up.

"They're right. Do you want to carry her Darren? I could carry her next then Kira can and we take turns." Evra suggested.

"Already on it." Darren already had Ella in her arms. "Come on let's go." Darren started to walk with no pressure in carrying Ella at all. "I hope you wake up soon…"

"Ok then, come on bro." Kira put her arm around Evra as they started to walk. "Which reminds me, do you know what happened to Kristy and Krystal?"

"I actually haven't heard from them since the other night, but I'm sure they should be fine."

"Let's hope so…" Kira and Evra then catches up to Darren.

"What do you think her chances of survival are on this, Diana?" Mr. Crepsley whispered to Ms. Okami.

"To be honest, I think Ella has a good chance of survival, from the few months we spent traveling, she's one of the best half wolves I've ever seen, as a teenager of course." Ms. Okami whispered back. "I'm sure she'll get out of it. I know she will…"


	9. A Sacrifice To Save One's Life

"Come on, Darren. Give Ella to me. I'll carry her." Evra tried getting the girl out of Darren's grasp.

"No, I can carry her for a few more miles." Darren said as he kept on walking.

"But you've been carrying her for almost two hours. You must be tired." Evra insisted.

"Nope, not one bit…" Darren then looked at Ella's leg as he noticed a stain on her jeans, he then lifted up the leg of her jeans as he saw a bandage with some blood seeping through.

"She must have gotten that back when the camp was attacked. Hey, Kira." Evra called out to his sister.

"Ya?" Kira comes up to the two curious boys.

"How did Ella get this wound?" Darren asked before Evra could ask.

"Oh, well, she got hit by an arrow when we were running from that attack on the camp. Don't worry, she'll be fine. Just her leg will be hurting for a while." Kira explained.

"Oh ok good." Darren let out a sigh of relief as Mr. Crepsley came over to Darren, putting a shoulder on him.

"I think you should let Evra take over, you do seem a bit tired, Darren." Mr. Crepsley said.

"No, I'm fine. I just want to carry Ella a little longer then you can carry her Evra." Darren looked over at his concerned friend and Evra nodded.

"Are there any other obstacles, Diana?" Mr. Crepsley went to catch up with Ms. Okami.

"Hmm…there shouldn't be. There's only at least one obstacle before every checkpoint, there could be more though." Ms. Okami responded as she looked at the map another time.

"Ms. Okami, is Ella supposed to be shivering?" Kira spoke up as Ms. Okami and Mr. Crepsley went to the kids.

Ms. Okami then checked for a pulse, "She's burning up, this memory must be pretty powerful to make her do this. The checkpoint isn't for another 5 hours. The time limit is almost exceeding, she better wake up fast." Ms. Okami checks her watch. "It's been around 30 minutes, she's got another half an hour left." Ms. Okami then searched her knapsack as she found a towel. "Darren, put her down over by that rock. I need to try and cool her down." Darren nodded as he did what he was told. He then sat by Ella, still hoping she will wake up.

Darren then brushed a stroke of hair out of Ella's face as he leaned in and kissed her. When he parted, Ms. Okami came back with the towel that was now soaked with water, she then dabbed Ella's face with the towel, trying to get her from burning up.

"Ms. Okami?" Darren spoke up.

"Yes, Darren?" Ms. Okami kept trying to cool Ella down.

"Do you think Ella will come out of her vision?" Darren didn't take his eyes off of the unconscious girl.

"Of course I do. Ella's a strong girl. I know she can overcome anything." Ms. Okami smiled at Darren. "You really care for her, don't you Darren?"

"I really do. I've never met anyone in my whole life like her. We pretty much went through the same things from what she's told me, right Ms. Okami?"

"From what Mr. Crepsley has told me, yes you two shared a similar fate." Ms. Okami then remembered something as she got the map again and looked at it, "There should be some towns on the way as we make our destination, which are our checkpoints. That's convenient. When we get there, we should let Ella rest. The checkpoint isn't for another 5 hours, but there's a town close by which isn't one of the checkpoints. Do you think you can carry Ella for another 10 minutes?" Darren nodded as he picked Ella up. Ms. Okami then squeezed the water out of the towel as she placed it on Ella's head. "Make sure you try to cool her down as well Darren." Ms. Okami then stood up, "Come on, we're leaving. There's a town close by and we should be able to let Ella rest there." The group then picked up their things and headed toward the town.

I opened my eyes as the body of my mom was laying back on the hospital bed. I checked my body for any scratches or bruises, there was only the bruise from when she clutched my arm too tightly. I then looked around as the scenery started to change. It was now starting to change into a hospital, I looked around to see where I was and realized I was in the OR, operating room, I looked at their patient and noticed that it was my dad…if today is that day then…"Oh god, not again, DAD!" As I called out his name, the screen started beeping, I quickly averted my head to the screen as his heart rate started lowering rapidly.

"He's flatlining, did you hit an artery?" The woman surgeon in the mask said as she quickly got the crash cart.

"What can I be hitting?" He then hurriedly got something out of the man's stomach. He then put some kind of gel on the paddles as he rubbed them together, "Clear." He then put the paddles on the man's chest where his heart was, the screen was still beeping, no heart rate. "Clear." The paddles were at the man's chest again, nothing. "Clear." Nothing. "Clear." Still nothing. "Clear!" Still nothing…

A couple of minutes pass, "How long are you going to keep doing this? We've been at it for 20 minutes." The woman surgeon told the man surgeon who was tending to my dad.

"Do you know the history of his family? The daughter lost her mother while the mother was giving birth. It'll be even worse once we tell her that she lost her dad as well. Clear." Still nothing. "Damn it." He took off his mask.

"We need to put him on bypass." The woman surgeon said as she took off her mask as well.

"No need." The man looked at the clock. "Time of death…10 P.M." It was September 11, 2001. I was 10 years old and I was the only child of Lydian and Henry Amerian.

As the man said the time of death, that was when I knew what memory this was, it turned out my dad got shot in the middle of a shooting between two or more people. It didn't hit his heart or anywhere near it, it hit his ribs and the surgeons took out the bullet, but turns out something went wrong. And I lost my mom and my dad…My aunt and uncle decided to take me in, they had two daughters and one son, so I was never lonely.

I walked over to my dad as the surgeon left the room to tell my aunt and uncle, who was there with me and their children, which were my cousins. The other surgeons took off their mask as they cleaned up around the place. I was at the side of my dad as the room became empty. "Oh, dad, I lost mom and I lost you, I didn't even know mom, but I remember what she looked like and I miss both of you so much." I then leaned down as I kissed my dad's cheek for the last time and then the hand of my dad raised up as it cut my cheek. I then backed away as I saw blood on my hands. I looked at the corpse as it laid still.

"Ow, that hurt." The scenery changed again. I was now in the waiting room of the hospital where I saw my aunt and uncle talking with the surgeon. My aunt then burst into tears as my uncle held her. The surgeon then nodded his head and walked away. I then spotted my child self playing with my cousins close by. My aunt looked at me, wondering what she would tell me. At the age I am when my dad passed away, I understood what death was, but I didn't fully understand why it happened.

I then went over to one of the chairs and sat down, burying my hands in my face as I ran my fingers through my hair. I then touched the cut that my dad, or I think it was my dad, gave me. It stopped bleeding. There was then the sound of someone crying, I looked over and I noticed that my aunt had told me what happened. My former self then came over to me as she stared at me with tears running down her cheeks. Could she really see me? I then reached out to her, but my surroundings started to fade and so did I…

"Oh god, Ella's still burning up." Darren said as he noticed the body was shivering as well. He then held Ella close to his body, trying to maintain her body temperature.

"Don't worry, we're here. " Ms. Okami said as she quickly spotted an inn. "Come on, we're going to have to stay here for the night. It'll delay our travels, but it won't be too bad." Ms. Okami started walking, leading the group into the inn. Darren then sat at one of the tables as he put Ella down in a sitting position as he got the towel and kept on dabbing her with it. All that could be heard from the girl was heaving breathing and some mumbling words.

Ms. Okami went up to the desk with Crescent following along side her. "Excuse me, We would like to stay here for the night. Do you have any rooms available?"

The person then turned around as he was doing something before, "Yes, we have rooms available. Unfortunately, ever since the emperor raised the taxes, not many people have stayed at our inn. Anyways, how many rooms would you like?"

"Two please." Ms. Okami responded.

"Ok, two it is." The man then got two room keys, one saying 12 and the other saying 13. "Here you are, my daughter will show you where your rooms are. Ling!"

A young woman about the age of 18 came out from a room, "Yes, dad?"

"Can you take these people to their rooms, please."

The woman nodded, "Follow me please." The woman then started walking as Evra picked up Ella this time and the rest followed. A couple minutes later they reached two doors side by side that has the numbers 12 and 13 on the front. "Here are your rooms and if you need anything, just ask." The woman smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Ling, was it?" Ms. Okami thanked her.

"Yes, and your welcome, but we should be thanking you. The emperor has increased the taxes lately, making them pretty much rob us dry. We don't get many customers because this is a poor town. Anyways, dinner will be ready soon." Ling smiled as she was about to walk away but was stopped by Ms. Okami.

"Here, something for you and your dad." Ms. Okami then handed her a pouch containing coins that were worth more then they looked.

"Oh, thank you. Ms…."

"Okami." Ms. Okami smiled.

"Thank you, Ms. Okami. We really appreciate it." Ling bowed.

"It really is no trouble. Thank you again." Ms. Okami smiled as Ling walked away.

"Darren, Evra and I will stay in room 12 while you, Kira and Ella stay in room 13." Mr. Crepsley said to Ms. Okami. Ms. Okami nodded as she opened the door and went inside. "You kids go on ahead. You need to put Ella down anyways." Mr. Crepsley said as he went into the room. Evra and Darren went into the room that the girls were staying in. As they walked in, they looked around. There were two windows, a table in the middle with a vase of flowers in it. There were two beds, both beds had curtains on them, one bed was on the left and the other one was on the right, each one in their separate rooms.

"Two beds, huh? I guess this will have to do." Ms. Okami then set down her things on the table. "Evra, can you set Ella down on one of the beds?"

"Ok." Evra then went to the bed in the right room as he set Ella down on the bed. "Wow, she's heavy."

Darren then shot Evra a look, "In a good way?"

"Ya, nice save. How long has it been?" Darren asked Evra.

"Um…" Evra checks his watch. "It's been 50 minutes, if she doesn't wake up in 10 minutes, this won't turn out so good."

"I'm aware of that." Darren tried to stay calm as he said that.

"Ok, how's Ella doing?" Ms. Okami came over to the bed as she sat down Ella's bedside, replacing the towel with a fresh one. Ms. Okami put her hand on Ella's cheek to feel her temperature, "She's cooling down a bit, but still a bit hot." Ms. Okami then took a layer of blankets off as she set them aside.

"I'm starting to get hungry, I wonder if dinner is ready." Evra stood up as he walked over to his sister. "Want to go check if dinner's ready, sis?"

"Sure." Kira and Evra then walked to the door as Kira opened it and went outside.

"Are you coming, Darren? Ms. Okami?" Evra asked before he went out.

"Ya, we'll be there, you two go on ahead." Ms. Okami told them as they shut the door behind them.

Darren was about to stand up as Ms. Okami grabbed him by his wrist, not in a threatening way, but in a way where she had to tell him something important. Darren then turned around as he sat back down, "Yes, Ms. Okami?"

"Um, Darren, there is another way to cool down Ella's fever, but you have to agree with it first." Ms. Okami fidgeted with her words.

"What is it?" Darren asked with hope inside his voice.

"Well...I read in one of my books that a way to cool a person down is to transfer the body heat between the two people, thus creating equilibrium between the heat with the bodies of the two, resulting in cooling down of the person with the fever." Ms. Okami explained.

"Oh, I see…so you need me… to do…this?" Darren seemed a bit worried.

Ms. Okami nodded, "You're the only one out of all of us that really cares for Ella. I care for her as well, but I'm leaving this in the hands of you, Darren."

Darren then gulped as he nodded, "Ok, tell everyone I'll be down for dinner soon."

Ms. Okami then nodded as she stood up and put a hand on Darren's shoulder, "Don't worry, now don't forget, when you feel like that she's cooled down, you can stop. It'll be o.k." Ms. Okami then nodded as Darren nodded back. Ms. Okami then left the room as she shut the door behind her.

Darren then looked at Ella, debating on if he really wanted to do this or not. He didn't want to do anything that would ruin their relationship in the future. He then gulped and gently took off the remaining blankets off of Ella as he started to unbutton her shirt. A few minutes later she was undressed and so was he. He then got in bed beside Ella as he was beside her. He felt her forehead as she was still burning up. He then got closer to her to transfer his body heat to hers. He could feel her shivering. As he was doing this, his head was filled with this thought the whole time, "Please forgive me Ella."

[[A little side note to you all who's reading this: That last scene is not a sex scene. I repeat it's NOT a sex scene. I just couldn't think of another way to make it sound like it was not. Anyways, thank you to all who likes this story and I'll be sure to update soon :D


	10. Please, forgive me

Darren placed his hand on Ella's forehead. The method was working, but slowly. "I know you'll get out of it, Ella…I just know it." He whispered under his breath as he noticed something on Ella's cheek. He gently touched the cut as Ella flinched a little, "Huh? I wonder when did she get this."

The memory of my two parents were not happy ones, but my aunt and uncle took me in like I was their own child. I miss them. As I was brought back to the present, I opened my eyes to see that I'm still in the dark. I then wiped my eyes as to I was crying earlier. I stood up as I looked around, "Hello? Is anyone here?" I then saw a figure facing me, the figure wasn't clear. I blinked my eyes a few times to finally identify the figure as Darren.

"Darren?" I quickly ran up to him as I hugged him tightly. "Oh Darren, I'm so glad you made it out alive from the attack. I was so scared." There was something wrong, this just didn't feel…quite right to me.

I looked up at Darren, "Darren? Is everything ok?" I then felt something stab at my heart, as Looked down at my chest, I didn't see anything, the stabbing got worse and I fell to the ground instantly, Darren started walking up to me as he had a knife in his hand, "Darren? Darren? What are you doing?" I tried to crawl away from Darren as far as possible, but I was too weak to even move. Darren was now in front of me as he swung the knife at me, I closed my eyes as I waited for this attack to end it all.

"Darren..Darren…no stop!!" My eyes flew wide open as I sat straight up, breathing heavily as if I just came back from the dead.

I then looked around to see where I was as Darren instantly awoke, "Ella? Oh god, finally you have awakened. I thought I was going to lose you." He then hugs me without thinking.

"Darren?" I noticed that he didn't have a shirt on and as I looked down at myself, I had no clothes on either, "Um..Darren." I tried my best not to freak out.

"Ya?" He let go of me as he realized that we were in bed, without clothes on.

"Uh, why do we not have clothes on?" I started blushing like mad as I pulled the blankets closer to me.

"Oh well…I'll actually explain that later. But right now, I think you should get dressed and I think I should as well." Darren then got out of bed as he gathered his clothes. "Are you feeling ok?"

"I'm still a bit weak, but I feel fine." I smiled at him.

"Ok. I'll explain to you all of this after we get dressed. I'm going to close the curtains to give you some privacy." Before he closed the curtains he said to me, "I'm glad you're back. I thought I was going to lose you for good." He then closed the curtains and as he closed the curtains, I swore I saw him smile, so I smiled shyly back. I then found my clothes on the end of my bed. I got them and first started getting my upper half dressed. When I finished, it was time to dress my bottom half. I quickly hurried as I could barely see through the curtains that Darren had his shirt on already, I then finished putting on my clothes as I opened the curtains. Darren came over to me as he sat down on the bed.

"You feeling alright?" Darren asked me for the millionth time, when it was only three times that he asked me this question. He touched my forehead with his hand. His hand felt cool against my skin.

"I'm fine Darren, really. Just a little dizzy that's all." I smiled weakly to give him some reassurance that I was going to be o.k.

"Your temperature is still a bit warm, maybe you should get some rest." Darren was apparently ignoring my words.

"Darren, I said I'm fine. I just need some food is all." I then looked around as I remembered everyone else.

"Where is Ms. Okami and Kira? Is Evra and Mr. Crepsley here with you also?"

"They're all downstairs eating dinner. Oh and about why we didn't have our clothes on. Ms. Okami told me about a method where in order to cool down a person's body heat, you have to create equilibrium between the two people. In other words, what you saw me doing when you woke up." Darren explained.

"Oh, I see. I was trying my absolute hardest not to freak out, to be honest." I let out a small laugh.

"Trust me, it was much harder on me." Darren let out a small laugh as well.

That led me to thinking, "Did you hesitate to think at all about what Ms. Okami asked you to do?" I asked Darren.

"To be honest, no. What I was worried about was what you were going to think when you woke up and if you would forgive me or not." Darren looked down at his hands.

I then took his hands in mine as I looked at him, "Thank you, for what you did and yes I do forgive you even though you did nothing wrong." I smiled. "That reminds me, where is everyone else?" I looked around.

"They're downstairs eating dinner, would you like to join them?" Darren asked as he got up with my hands still in his.

"Yes, please." Darren then helped me out of bed as he took me downstairs. As we walked down to dinner, I had so many questions on my mind because last time I remembered, only Kira and Ms. Okami were with me. Darren, Evra and Mr. Crepsley must have joined in later. "When did the three of you come in? Last time I remember, I was with Ms. Okami and Kira."

"Well, we were on our way to the first checkpoint, but then we heard some voices and we came across Kira and Ms. Okami and you as well, but you…" Darren seemed distant as he was about to finish the sentence. "But you…you were unconscious when we saw you."

"Unconscious? All I remembered was that I walked into the waterfall and…"

"You walked into the Waterfall of Tranquility, it's where when a person walks into the waterfall, they get taken back to memories that have happened in their past while their physical state is unconscious, The time limit to get out of the memories is 60 minutes. You got out of your memories just in time."

"Is this what Mr. Tall meant by obstacles trying to stop us?" I asked, Darren nodded. "Anyways, let's not think about this for now, I'm starved." We finally reached the bottom of the stairs where there were other inn guests eating at the tables. I then spotted Ms. Okami and everyone else. Kira was the first one to notice me.

"ELLA!" Kira ran over to me and hugged me tight as I hugged her back, "Oh my gosh, I didn't think I would ever see you again. We never lost hope in you. How are you feeling?" Kira started rambling.

"I'm fine, really. I'm just hungry, that's all." I walked over with Darren and Kira as I took a seat beside Ms. Okami. Kira sat beside me as Darren sat beside Evra and Mr. Crepsley.

"Ella, you're awake, finally. How are you feeling?" Ms. Okami gave me a small hug as I did the same to her.

"A little dizzy, but I feel alright." I then saw Evra and Mr. Crepsley, "Hi Evra, Hi Mr. Crepsley." I smiled.

"Hey Ella, feeling better?" Evra asked. I nodded.

"Ah, Ella, feeling better I see?" Mr. Crepsley asked. I nodded.

I then looked at the table with the food on it. It looked untouched, "Did you guys get a chance to eat yet?"

"Actually, we were waiting for you and Darren to come downstairs." Ms. Okami replied.

"Well, now that we are here, what are we waiting for? Let's dig in!" We then all started to ear the food that was prepared for us on the table. I can tell we would need our energy and strength for what was about to come.

When dinner was over, Kira went up to bed first and so did Evra, the only people left at the table were Ms. Okami, Darren, Mr. Crepsley, and I. I didn't feel sleepy since I was kind of in a deep sleep earlier.

"When are we leaving here, Ms. Okami?" I asked eagerly to get back onto our journey to Death Mountain.

"We will probably leave during dawn. Are you feeling alright to leave that early?" Ms. Okami looked concerned.

"Yes, Ms. Okami. I'll be fine." I gave her a reassuring smile. Ever since I had to leave my family, Ms. Okami has always been like a mother to me.

"Well, ok. How about you and Darren go on to bed?" Ms. Okami stroked my hair. "We're leaving bright and early tomorrow and you, especially, Ella need your strength. You as well Darren."

"Yes, Ms. Okami." Darren then stood up, "Come on, Ella. I'll walk you upstairs."

"Ok, Goodnight Ms. Okami." I gave her a hug as I stood up. "Goodnight, Mr. Crepsley." I stood in front of him as I searched his face to see if it was alright to hug him.

"Goodnight, Ella." He then stood up as he went over to hug me. He then parted as I walked upstairs with Darren. "I swear if I hear another person ask me if I'm alright, I will go insane." I whispered to Darren as other guests were also getting ready for bed.

Darren then stroked his chin in thought, "Are you feeling alright, Ella?" He then laughed.

"Hey! You did that on purpose!" I then hit his shoulder as I ran down the hall to where our rooms were. Darren ran after me and as I reached the door of my room, he then caught me from behind. I started laughing, "Come on Darren, let go." I didn't really struggle and I didn't really resist. Since he was half vampire, he was just as strong as I was. I started laughing as he still held on to me in a playful way. "Darren, let go!" I laughed. His grip on me started to loosen as I stopped struggling. I then looked up at him as his eyes were filled with compassion and worry, I then leaned in to kiss him.

"Ella…promise me something." He said as our lips parted.

"Sure thing, what is it?"

"Promise me you won't worry me like that ever again."

"I promise I won't worry you like that ever again." I promised him.

"Ok, now get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning." His long fingers then stretched out to caress my cheek. His icy touch sent a chill through my spine. He then turned his back to me as he went inside his room to join Evra.

I went in my room to join Kira, but as I opened the door a pillow went flying to my face, but I caught it in time to prevent the pillow from knocking me over. "Hey! What was that for?" I threw the pillow back at Kira.

"So..how was your walk up here with Darren?" Kira said teasingly as she got up, walking towards me. I realized she was already dressed in her pajamas.

"Oh, stop being nosy." I went to sat down on my bed as there were only two beds. I wonder where Ms. Okami is going to sleep. I started taking off my shoes.

"Aww, come on. I'm your best friend, aren't I?" Kira asked, I nodded. "Well then tell me what happened."

I then started getting dressed into my pajamas, "You're always so nosy."

"Ya, Evra tells me that all the time. Tell me something that's not new." Kira rolled her eyes.

I sighed in defeat, "Ok, fine I'll tell you, but don't hate me if you don't think it's interesting." I then told Kira what had happened from when she left to go upstairs to when I walked into the room.

"Not interesting? Are you crazy? I do wonder what Mr. Crepsley and Ms. Okami are talking about though. Want to go check it out?" Kira sprang up from her bed as I plopped down on my bed and pulled the covers on my head.

"You can go, but as for me. I'm going to sleep." I then remembered what happened before dinner as I took in the scent of the blankets as it still had Darren's scent on it. I then started to blush, but just as I closed my eyes, the doorknob turned. I then turned my head as I saw who was coming in. It was Ms. Okami, I stared at the clock. It said 10 P.M. Ms. Okami didn't close the door immediately as she was still talking to Mr. Crepsley about something important, I guess. Kira then went back to her bed as quietly as she could, her eyes locked on the two adults speaking. Turns out, Kira wasn't paying attention to where she was going and she tripped over a chair. She landed with a loud thud and Ms. Okami instantly turned her head towards us.

"Ow. That hurt." Kira said rubbing her head.

I couldn't help but laugh. I then got up as I took Kira's hand and helped her up. "Be more careful next time will you?"

"That was not funny." Kira stomped back to her bed as she pulled the covers over her head in embarrassment.

"Goodnight, Larten." Ms. Okami said her goodbye to the vampire as she closed the door behind her. I assumed that they had to stop their conversation short due to Kira's fall. "Kira, are you alright?" Ms. Okami asked.

"Ya, I'm fine, Ms. Okami." Kira said as she turned her head towards her.

"Ok, good. We wouldn't want another one of you to be hurt. Now, you girls get some sleep. We have to be up bright and early tomorrow." Ms. Okami said as she laid out a blanket on the floor. I assumed that's where she was sleeping for the night. "Goodnight girls."

"Goodnight Ms. Okami." Kira and I said in unison as I turned my body towards the window, staring out into the starry night. The lights went out as I closed my eyes, wondering what tomorrow is going to be like.

"Ella? Ella? Ella!!" I felt something nudging me. I recognized the voice as it belonged to Kira.

I then woke up as I rubbed my eyes, "Ugh..what time is it?" I looked outside the window, it was barely morning.

"5 A.M." Kira said as I saw her already dressed.

"You're usually the one that I have to wake up. Is Ms. Okami awake?" I looked around the room as I slowly got up and started changing.

"Ya, she's downstairs eating breakfast. I think Evra's still in bed, he was always like this back home. I'm not so sure about Darren though. I did see Mr. Crepsley wake up around the same time as Ms. Okami though."

"This journey is going to be a long one. How longer is it to the first check in point?" I asked as I put on my jacket. Although it may be morning, the sun was still hiding behind the hills.

"Hmm…I'm not sure, but I think we have at least 5 more hours or so. That shouldn't be a problem for you, right? Darren can just carry you." Kira said teasingly.

"Oh, hush up. I doubt he would carry me anyways." I opened the door as Kira followed me from behind.

"Oh really? Well if I remember correctly, he was carrying you the whole time yesterday when you were unconscious. Evra wanted to carry you as well, but Darren wouldn't let him. Are you two getting serious?" Kira's tone was serious now.

"I don't know really. I hope we are, I mean I really like him. We have so much in common and…" The door to the boy's room opened as Evra came out, yawning.

It didn't take long for him to notice us, "Oh hey there sis, hey Ella. Feeling better?"

"Loads, thanks Evra." I then looked behind him to see if there was anybody else in there. "Um…"

"If you're looking for Darren, he's downstairs already." Evra smiled.

"Oh, thanks." I then started quickening my pace as I wanted to see Darren.

"Wow, they must be getting serious, huh?" Evra whispered over to Kira as they followed behind me.

"Ya, I know, right? Ella couldn't stop talking about Darren at all last night." Kira whispered back. "By the way, how long has Darren been downstairs?"

"Hmm… I woke up around 5 minutes ago and Darren was already gone." Evra shrugged as the three of us arrived downstairs. Only one or two groups of people were eating downstairs.

I then spotted Mr. Crepsley, Ms. Okami and Darren. I walked to them as I took my place beside Darren. Kira and Evra sat next to Mr. Crepsley. "Good morning everyone." I smiled.

"Good morning, Ella. We didn't think you would wake up until later on, but good thing Kira woke you up. We were just about to go up and pack." Ms. Okami said.

"That's fine, you can go upstairs if you like, I'll just stay down here with Evra, Kira, and Darren." I smiled at Ms. Okami.

"Well, ok. If you're sure. I'll see you in a bit." Ms. Okami got up as she went upstairs.

"I might as well go pack up too. The boys' room was such a mess." Mr. Crepsley let out a small chuckle.

"Hey! Evra is the messy one!" Darren argued.

"I am not! Darren's the pig!" Evra argued back. I found this somewhat entertaining. I then started eating the food that was left on the table.

"Boys." Mr. Crepsley rolled his eyes as he got up. "I'll see you all in a little bit." Mr. Crepsley nodded as he walked upstairs.

"Can you believe them?' Kira said across the table to me.

"I know, huh? Boys are so immature." I took another bite out of my bread.

"And don't think we didn't hear that." Darren turned to me as he smiled. I didn't really notice before, but there was something about his smile that just made my heart skip a beat.

I smiled nervously back and then I shrugged at him as I continued to eat. Ms. Okami told me once that wolves were big eaters and turns out I was turning into one. "

"Didn't you finish eating, Darren?" Kira asked as she started picking food up with her chopsticks and putting them on her plate.

"Ya, but I'll stay down here with you guys. I don't mind." Darren then looked at me as he smiled.

Even though I didn't look at him, I could feel his eyes searching me. We were sitting to the part where our elbows touched and that touch sent up an electric spark into me.

A few minutes later, I finished eating as I stood up, "I'll be upstairs packing as well. If any of you guys need me, you know where to find me." I smiled at them.

"I'll come with you." Darren stood up. "I'll see you guys in a little bit." He directed that toward Kira and Evra.

We both then walked upstairs as more people started coming down for breakfast or to go out.

"Thank you, so much for your hospitality." Ms. Okami returned both of the keys to the boy's room and the girl's room.

"Oh no, thank you. We hope you enjoyed your stay." The inn keeper then took the keys as he hanged it up back on the wall.

"Thank you again. Tell your daughter thank you for us." Ms. Okami bowed as the inn keeper bowed back. We were already outside waiting for Ms. Okami. "Come on, let's go. This is going to be another long journey." We then started walking back to the forest. "Now, everyone stay together. We wouldn't want another one of you getting hurt." I knew Ms. Okami was referring to me.

5 hours later…

With some complaining of if we were there yet and with the noises of the forest, we finally reached at the first checkpoint. Evra and Kira quickly ran to the checkpoint, looking around. I had a feeling they were looking for their sisters. I then heard a shriek coming from one of the tents.

"OH MY GOSH! Is that you, Kira and Evra?" A figure ran out of the tent, I could make the figure out as one of their sisters, Kristy, the youngest of their family. "Hey Krystal! Kira and Evra made it!" Their older sister, Krystal came running out of the tent. The two sisters then hugged their middle sister and their big brother.

I smiled a smile that caught Darren's attention, "Something the matter, Ella?"

"Oh, I just miss my family is all. Hopefully I get to see them again one day." I then started walked to where Ms. Okami and Mr. Crepsley were, they were at the check in desk.

"Ya, I know how you feel. I had a little sister when I was human and I didn't get along with her too well, but we still got along once in a while." It seemed like after the incident with the waterfall, Darren seemed to be hesitant to leave my side, he also seemed…

A voice knocked my thoughts away, "Ella! I got our tent. Come along." It was Ms. Okami.

"Ok, I'll see you later Darren?" I started towards Ms. Okami.

"Ya, I'll see you later." He smiled, but for some reason I could see the sorrow in his eyes.

"Let's see…Tent 13. One of my favorite numbers." Ms. Okami smiled as she walked in with Crescent. I realized Crescent was quiet for most of the time. I wonder why.

I walked in the tent as well, but inside was no ordinary camping tent. My mouth fell in open shock as I looked around, it was like a regular home. I guess this is what they meant by don't judge a book by it's cover or in this case, a tent by it's cover. There were two beds, a kitchen, a small living room, and pretty much all the works. The interior design was absolutely gorgeous. It was red linen with gold designs on it. I then went to a bed and slumped on it and sighed. This was really going to be a long adventure, but I'm up for anything as long as I'm with Darren. I then smiled as I hugged the pillow on the bed.


	11. Bloody Intruders

"Ella? Ella!" The voice was faint.

I felt a nudging movement on my body, I looked up with wary eyes to see who it was. It was Kira. "Ugh, what is it?" I pulled the covers over my head and noticed that it was barely dusk.

"Ms. Okami says we have to leave..NOW." Kira said with an urgency in her voice. She kept her voice down for some reason.

I kept complaining some more, "I thought we were going to leave later then this."

"Come on." Kira tried pulling the covers off of me, but I held on. After a few tries, she gave up and I heard footsteps coming towards the tent. Multiple footsteps. "Oh shoot." Kira then ran to the kitchen and hid behind the counter.

I looked over to where she was as I was about to say something, figures were coming towards our tent. Kira looked towards me as she put a finger to her lips, signaling me to keep quiet. The figure was coming closer. Then a voice spoke up, "Hey you guys! I think there's still something left in this tent." I quickly turned the other way as there was a small hole in the tent. I saw an eye peeking through the hole, my eyes widened as I quickly pulled the covers over me. I hope it didn't see me.

As the figures approached inside our tent, I instantly picked up their scent…vampires. These were no ordinary vampires, they were vampires that were turned bad. Overall, these vampires were blood thirsty vampires that killed humans while draining their blood. I covered my mouth to avoid breathing heavily because I knew vampires had pretty good hearing like us wolves.

"You guys find anything?" I listened carefully.

"No, not…" Their sudden conversation was stopped by something. Have they found Kira? or me? There was a sudden thumping noise and my eyes widened in fear. I realized the thumping had come from one of the vampires, but the vampire landed on…me! I kept as still and quiet as I could. I could hear them sniffing. I was sure they would have smelled my scent by now. I was frozen in fear, not being able to move.

"Hey, you guys…look what we have here." The vampire on top of me said as he pulled the covers off, but all it revealed was an empty, but about to be messy bed. "Where did…"

I was suddenly on the kitchen counter in front of the vampires. I looked around to see how many there were as I saw three vampires scattered around our tent. I then whispered behind me, "Kira..get out of here. I'll catch up to you."

Kira nodded as a scream followed and that scream belonged to her. Kira was already at the door as a vampire jumped in front of her and blocked her from escaping.

"Well well well, look what we have here. A little lost pup and…" The vampire that was on my bed jumped off as he sniffed the air. He was sniffing Kira's scent. "A...human? You don't smell like one. What are you?" The vampire approached Kira.

"I don't have to talk to the likes of you." Kira spit on the vampire as he, with a quick swipe, gave Kira a scar on her cheek like the one Darren gave me when I was…

"Let go of her!" I yelled as I jumped off the table.

The vampire turned around and smirked, "We usually get along with you wolves, but this time…we're making an exception." I have heard somewhere that vampires and wolves respected each other, they were comrades. The vampire then grabbed Kira by her wrist, "You want her? You can have her." He then threw Kira to me, but I caught her just in time before she fell off balance. He then turned around as he reached the door, but he stopped. "Kill them off. I want no survivors." The vampire then left as the other two surrounded us. Two on two, might be fair. The two vampires then bared their fangs as their eyes changed into a crimson red. Maybe not…

"Care to take on these two, Kira?" I asked Kira who was now back to back with me.

Before she could answer, the two vampires charged at us as I jumped over them and landed on my hands and feet as I looked over to Kira, she jumped over them as well as she landed on her two feet. Kira then kicked the vampire that was on her side, a male, to bump into the female vampire that was on my side.

"Let's go before we get into more trouble!" I said as I grabbed Kira's wrist and as we ran out, we hurriedly carried our belongings with us. When we reached outside of the tent, we were speechless. I nearly dropped my mouth open. I looked around at the deserted area as the tents were all torn up, belongings were scattered around, some remains of blood splattered on the ground, some bodies of the Cirque Du Freak with bite marks on their necks were lying still on the ground, it was like the after math of a battleground. How can three vampires do so much damage in little time…Kira then let out a small cry as she buried her head in my chest, I hugged her in comfort. We then heard the chattering of the vampires that were back in our tent, they were still on our tails.

"We'll mourn later, but for now. We have to…" I was then stopped by a hand on my wrist as I was pulled aside, with my mouth covered by the same hand belonging to a person. I tried to let out a muffled cry as I looked up at the person who was holding me as that person put up a finger to their mouth. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl, it was still too dark. I looked around to see where Kira went and on the other side of the bush, Kira was also being held with her mouth covered by another figure, again, I couldn't tell due to the darkness whether it was a female or a male. A couple of minutes later, I heard the buzzing of the vampires and their footsteps.

"Where do you think they went?" The voice wasn't too familiar, but I'm guessing it was from the man that was one of their leader's comrades.

"I don't know. I think we should get out of here, James." This was the female vampire for sure.

"Now.." The one called James was sniffing the air as I realized he had picked up our scent. My eyes widened as the footsteps got closer. I tried my hardest not to let out a muffled scream. I looked at the face that was holding me again as the figure told me to keep quiet once again.

"James, we should really.."

"Hush! I think they're still here…" James was getting closer, I could smell his bloodthirsty scent, his footsteps in the soil, his…

There was then another voice, this one I would never forget, it was the lead vampire who gave Kira that scar, "James, Victoria. Come here..NOW!" The voice sounded angry.

"Yes, sir." James was close to finding us, but was then called back by his leader, so James and the female named Victoria were then by their leader's side.

"What did I tell you two to do before I left?" The lead vampire's voice had a hint of irritation in it.

"Um, well you see..they got away." Victoria said in a staggered voice.

"I'm not taking care of you to let OUR VICTIMS GET AWAY!" The voice was now really furious. Some birds then flew out of the bushes and the trees as they heard the rumbling voice of the vampire. The lead vampire then looked towards our direction as I widened my eyes and leaned back a little into the figure, hoping I was not seen. I then saw through the shrubbery that the lead vampire slapped the other two bloodthirsty vampires. "Come on, let's go. I expect both of you to do better next time." With that being said, the three vampires were gone in a blink of an eye.

What seemed like hours, but only minutes had passed as the hand finally let go of my mouth as I gasped for air.

"Are you ok? Sorry to scare you like that." The voice sounded like a female's voice. As the sun was coming up, it revealed the face of a female. Her voice was melodious and her face..It wasn't a pretty face or a face that most boys would call hot, but it was a gorgeous, beautiful face. Her eyes were that of a light golden caramel color and her hair was a light brown.

"Thanks for saving us back there." I thanked her as the figure on the other side of the bush let go of Kira and they came to our side. The figure that saved Kira was that of a male. His face was just as gorgeous as the girl that was by my side.

"No problem, but you two should be more careful. Those vampires aren't too easy to deal with when they're hungry. I'm Elizabeth by the way, this is my brother, Edward." The girl named Elizabeth shook hands with me.

"I'm Ella and this is my friend, Kira." I shook hands with Elizabeth. "It's nice to meet you both, but are you two apart of the Cirque Du Freak?"

"We actually are, when we woke up, we heard all the chaos, we weren't in much of a hurry, so we stuck around to see if anyone was left and turns out you two were the only ones left, besides us that is." Elizabeth explained. "Oh and sorry about pulling you aside like that and the whole covering your mouth thing."

"It's fine." I smiled a little. "By any chance would you have happened to see a half vampire.."

"And two girls and a guy that had scales all over their bodies with pets alongside them?" Kira interrupted me before I could finish my description of Darren.

"Actually.." The male named Edward finally spoke up. He was so quiet I hardly even noticed him there. "I did see two girls who looked a bit like your friend Kira over here. Are they your sisters?"

"Ya, they are. Are they ok?" Kira asked in a worried tone.

"Well, I did see them escape, so they should be fine." Edward explained to us his observation of Krystal and Kristy.

"What about Evra, is he alright?" Kira asked.

"Your brother, I assume?" Kira nodded. "Well I didn't see him around, but I'm sure he'll be fine." Edward gave her a reassuring smile that would make anybody melt.

"What about Darren? He was with Evra and..Mr. Crepsley." I said in a more worried tone then Kira's.

"Actually.." Edward was cut off by Elizabeth.

"We did see them escape, so they should be fine as well." Elizabeth gave us a reassuring smile.

"What about Ms. Okami?" I asked.

"We can play a hundred questions later, but right now we need to get out of here. If I'm correct, they're still around the area." Elizabeth said as she got a hold of my hand and pulled me up and Edward did the same for Kira. "Come on." Kira and I then got our knapsacks and followed Elizabeth and Edward. They were walking ahead of us a bit too quickly. I wonder..

I heard the two of them whispering something, I couldn't make out what they said except for their ending sentences.

"You could tell how much she was worried about them, I didn't want to disappoint her."

"You were always the sensitive one, sis." Edward then put an arm around his sister's shoulder as she shrugged it off.

The sun finally rose up over the hills as I stretched. "Finally, the sun is out." I looked around. "Hey, where's Elizabeth and Edward?" I asked Kira who was eating a granola bar..

She shrugged, "I saw them go that way." Kira pointed ahead of her.

"Didn't you eat when you rudely woke me up?"

"Well, no, I didn't have any time and HEY! If I didn't wake up you, you would have been their lunch." Kira protested.

"By the way…what happened to Ms. Okami? Didn't she tell you to wake me up?" I asked in curiousity.

"Well she told me to get you and go on without her. She would meet us later." Kira said as she fed some of her granola bar to her dragon that was soaking up the sun beside her.

"Hmm..I'll be right back. You stay here." I then wandered off to where Kira told me Elizabeth and Edward was. After a few steps of my foot being stuck in the mud, I finally found Edward and Elizabeth in a small clearing. Elizabeth was sitting down in the middle of the clearing as Edward was leaning against a tree in the shade.

"Come on, Elizabeth. You have to be more careful about your skin." Edward warned his sister.

"Ya, ya I know, but there's no one around." Elizabeth argued back.

I then noticed what they meant about Elizabeth's skin, my eyes widened, but before I could step forward, a hand was put over my mouth and I was pulled into the depths of the forest.


	12. The Second CheckIn Point

"Mmmm." I struggled against the hand that was clamped over my mouth. I finally managed to get free as I bared my fangs and bit the hand, it instantly drew back.

"Ow, ow, ow!" I recognized that voice as I instantly whipped my head around and saw it was Ms. Okami.

"Ms. Okami!! You made it!" I ran to hug her as she gently hugged me back.

"Yes, of course I made it. That bite of yours, I can see you're improving. Sorry about that, I thought you were someone else." Ms. Okami apologized.

"Oh that's fine, you just nearly made me bite your hand off, are you alright?" I looked at the bite mark I left on her hand.

"Don't worry, us wolves heal fast, remember?" Ms. Okami reminded me.

"Ya, I remember. Oh, there's someone I want you to meet." I took Ms. Okami's hand to the clearing I saw Edward and Elizabeth at before Ms. Okami put her hand over my mouth. "Hey Edward, Elizabeth!" The two of them were still fighting until they heard us come then they stopped.

"Ms. Okami, meet Edward and Elizabeth." I gestured to my lifesavers. "Edward, Elizabeth, meet Ms. Okami."

"Nice to meet you Edward and Elizabeth, you two are apart of the Cirque Du Freak right?" They both nodded. "I've seen you around a couple of times."

"Nice to meet you too." Elizabeth spoke up.

"Oh, Ms. Okami, did you see Darren and the rest make it out?" I asked anxiously.

"Well, no. I didn't, but don't worry Ella, I know for a fact they're safe. I'm sure we'll bump into them again soon enough."

"Did you see my sisters?" Kira came struggling through the bushes as she stood by us.

"I actually did see them, Kira. They got out safely, don't worry. It's nice to see you kids made it out safe." Ms. Okami reassured Kira.

"Ya, we barely made it out alive. If it weren't for Elizabeth and Edward, we wouldn't even be here right now." Kira acknowledged the siblings.

"Oh, it was nothing. We're used to this." Elizabeth smiled a breathtaking smile.

"Enough chatting, should we get a move on?" I offered.

"That sounds like a good idea now. Elizabeth, Edward, would you like to join us or are you waiting for your mentor?"

Edward and Elizabeth looked at each other, "Actually, we don't have one. We decided to do this tournament with each other. We would love to join you though. Thank you."

"Ah I see. Well, then girls, get your things." Ms. Okami followed Kira back to where our things were. Hopefully they weren't stolen by some bear. Lucky for us, they were still there, we gathered up our things and continue on with our journey.

I kneeled down at the bank of the pond as I cleaned myself up, "Ahh, now that's refreshing."

"Look, there's fish in it too." Kira pointed out to the different varieties of fish swimming in the pond. She tried to catch them in her bare hands but they swan away. I laughed.

Behind us we could hear the hushed whisperings of Edward and Elizabeth, we decided to go join them.

"Hey guys." I interrupted.

"Hey. How was the water?" Elizabeth asked as she positioned herself on the mossy like surface while her brother positioned himself on the rock.

"Very refreshing, you guys should try some." Kira said.

"Oh really? We should try some before we leave then."

"How long have you guys been in the Cirque Du Freak?" I asked curiously.

"Well we just joined last year. It's a long story, how about you two?" Edward didn't seem to speak much because it looked like his sister did all the talking.

"Actually, I just came back from a vacation, I guess you could say, with Ms. Okami, so not long. I think Kira was at the Cirque Du Freak around a year or so along with her sisters." I estimated.

"Ya, pretty much. Did you two join at the same time?" Kira asked.

"I believe so." Elizabeth replied.

"I wonder how many days has it been. It seems like a very long time, so I kind of stopped keeping track." I sighed.

"I believe it's been only about two and a half days, so not long, but don't worry. I'm sure time will past by quickly and we'll be there in no time." Elizabeth said.

"If we're more careful into the obstacles we run into then it should be faster that way." Edward spoke up.

"I wish it was that simple Mr. Tall said there were going to be obstacles along the way, no way can we avoid them that simply." Kira reminded them.

"That is true." Edward said in a low voice.

"So, how about that vampire attack, huh? I bet it was another one of those challenges they set up for us." Kira said accusingly.

Edward and Elizabeth looked at each other hesitantly.

"Ya, I know right? I can't believe I didn't wake up earlier then that or I would have been their lunch. Thank goodness Kira attempted to wake me up." I remembered the attack from earlier today. "Where were you two when the attack hit?"

"Oh, we were in the bushes pretty much the whole time until the attack died down and that's when we met you guys." Elizabeth said.

Before we could say anymore, Ms. Okami told us that it was time to go.

By the time we reached the second check in point, the forest was engulfed in darkness.

"Finally! The second check in point, that was pretty fast, I must…" Kira abruptly stopped her sentence. I looked at her as I saw her stare at something or someone, I followed my eyes to where she was staring at and immediately knew what was about to happen.

I covered my ears as Kira let out a loud shriek and she ran over to her sisters, "OMG!! You guys made it! I was so worried!" Another small family reunion amongst Kira and her sisters. I then remembered about Darren.

I looked around to see if Darren, Evra, or Mr. Crepsley was around anywhere, but no luck. I ran to Ms. Okami's side and looked at the check in list to see if they have signed in already. I frowned in disappointment when I didn't see their names on the paper.

"Oh, Ella. You worry too much. Larten and I go way back and I know what he can do. I've also heard great things about Darren. He can take care of himself, don't worry." Ms. Okami put an arm around me for reassurance.

I sighed, "I guess you're right. I should stop worrying so much. Thank you, Ms. Okami." I smiled as I trudged along beside her to our tent. We decided to let Kira and her sisters catch up on things since the last time they saw each other. "Oh wait, where's Edward and Elizabeth?" I looked behind me for the two people.

"They're going to stay in their own tent. Plus, they had some business to attend to. I'm sure we'll see them again." We arrived at the tent.

I just plopped down on the bed and sighed, "Oh man, I am so tired."

"Get some sleep, we're leaving early in the morning to catch up to the others." Ms. Okami told me.

"What about the lessons?" I asked. I normally don't enjoy them, but they interest me at times.

"Oh ya, that's right. Well, when we have time, I can give you a short lecture on certain things I haven't taught you yet. Due to this journey, even I have been tired lately." Ms. Okami sat on her bed and started taking off her shoes.

I winced at a certain pain. I sat up and looked at my hand, "Ouch, when did I get this?"

Ms. Okami was at my side in an instant, "Let me take a look at that." I showed her my hand, "Hmm..looks like a small cut wound, nothing serious. Here." She took out a small briefcase and opened it.

Inside there were various items for emergencies, "You brought a first aid kit?"

"You can never be too careful." Ms. Okami smiled with her fangs showing. "Now stay still." Ms. Okami sprayed something on my hand, I guess to prevent it from getting infected. I winced a little. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Ms. Okami wrapped my hand in a gauze.

"There." Ms. Okami then closed the small briefcase and packed it into her knapsack. She then went back to her bed as she laid down.

I looked at my hand and moved it around a little bit to make sure my nerves weren't damaged, "Thanks. I think I'm going to take a late night shower. I'll be back in a jiff." I gathered some clothes from my knapsack.

"Ok, be careful." Ms. Okami told me.

"I always am." I smiled sarcastically as I walked out of the tent.

There were still a few people wandering around the campsite. Luckily for us, they set up a shower area, so we don't have to shower in the lake or something unless we wanted to. I decided to go for the shower area, it was a bit too dark for me to find my way to a lake. When I got to the shower area, it was inside a small building like room. I opened the door and went inside. The lights were on and no one was in the shower. You either had a choice to use the public showers with walls between each showerhead or use the ones where you can close the door so no one can see you naked. I decided to go inside the ones with the doors. I was a bit self-conscious even if there was no one around. I set my clothes and towel on the rack that was just outside the shower and I started to take off my clothes.

When I was finished, I set them on the same rack, apart from the fresh clothes I brought with me. I opened the door and went inside as I turned on the knobs to cold water. Something Ms. Okami taught me was that us wolves, we had an enormous amount of heat inside us, so we're like a walking furnace, so I figured it didn't matter what the water was turned to. I closed the door and reached for the soap that I had to provide for myself. I started drowning myself in the cold water until I heard the door open.

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Note from the Author: Hey everyone, I just wnated to say how much I appreciate all of you guys/gals reading my story and I do apologize for the delay. I was in a bit of a writer's block for this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyways! :


	13. Untitled

I covered my mouth just in case it was an intruder or something, but when I heard the voice I let out a sigh of relief. The voice belonged to Kira.

"Ella? Are you in here?" Even though there was only one shower on, Kira was still a bit oblivious.

"Ya, in here Kira!" I poked my head out of the door, "What's up?"

"Oh, well Ms. Okami said you were in here, so I just came to check on you."

"That's so nice of you, now if you'll let me get back to my shower." I closed the door and started cleaning myself again before I was interrupted.

"Ok then. If you don't want to see Darren…" I could tell Kira was teasing me in that tone of hers.

I quickly poked my head out of the door again, "Darren? You saw him?"

"Ya, I saw Evra and Mr. Crepsley too. They were just checking in."

"Hmm..they came here awfully late, are you sure it was them?" I asked in curiosity.

"Positive."

"Hmm..let me finish showering. Can you wait for me outside?"

"Sure, no problem." Kira then walked out of the showers and into the night.

I sighed and went back to my shower for the third time.

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After a couple of minutes, I had finished my shower and put on fresh new clothes. I stepped out of the shower while holding my dirty clothes in my arms. I left the shower house and looked around to see if Kira was around and found her leaning on a tree.

"I thought you got eaten by a bear or something." Kira said sarcastically.

"A bear? I'm sure you could have come up with something better then that." I laughed.

"Oh, hush up. By the way, what did you think about that Edward guy earlier? He was such a cutie."

"Then you go for him. I have Darren, remember?" I reminded her.

"Oh ya, how can I forget my best friend dating my brother's best friend?" Kira said sarcastically.

"Uh huh. There was something strange about Elizabeth and Edward though, I don't know what though…" I thought back to when we met those two. Even though us wolves can see very clearly at night, but since I wasn't paying any attention to where I was walking, I bumped into a tree and fell backwards.

"Omgosh, Ella, are you alright?" Kira offered me her hand.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a tree there??!!" I slapped Kira's hand away.

"Hey, not every supernatural creature can have supernatural senses like you, you know."

"Ya, ya." I rubbed my head as I gathered my things that I dropped. When I was gathering my things, I saw a pair of feet and as I looked up, it was Edward.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Y-Ya…"

"Here, let me help you up." He offered his hand to me and I took it.

"Thanks. What are you doing out here so late?"

"Just wandering around, what about you two?" He seemed to realize Kira was there as well.

"I just finished showering and Kira was waiting for me." I explained.

"Oh, I see. Well, I'll see you guys later. Be careful." Edward turned his back to us with his hands jammed into his pockets and walked away.

I quickly went to Kira's side as we started walking back to our tent.

"You decided to take his hand and not mine? Ok, I see how it is." Kira then forgot her anger towards me and let out a small shriek. She can get so easily distracted sometimes, "Can you believe what just happened??"

"Yes, I can believe it, Kira."

"Hey, where are you going? Darren's tent is that way." Kira pointed her finger in the other direction.

"Oh, well, I'm tired, I'll look for him in the morning." I kept walking towards our tent.

"Ok, if you insist." Kira walked alongside me.

After a few minutes, we reached our tent to find Ms. Okami laying in her bed with Crescent by her side.

"Oh there you girls are." Ms. Okami sat up.

"Yup, here we are." I stuffed my dirty clothes in my knapsack, being sure to separate them from the fresh clothes.

"You do know Darren is here, right Ella?" Ms. Okami asked me.

"Am I the only one that didn't know he was here? But yes, I know he's here. I'm tired though, I'll see him tomorrow morning." I kicked off my shoes and laid down on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Oh ok, if you insist." Ms. Okami turned off the lights and laid back on her bed. "Goodnight girls."

"Goodnight, Ms. Okami." Kira and I said in unison.

Kira and I said our goodnights to each other as I drifted off to sleep.

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I could hear the birds chirping outside as I opened my eyes. I sat up in my bed, rubbing my eyes and looked at the two other beds. Of course, Ms. Okami wasn't in it, she usually woke up before either Kira or I did and Kira was asleep as always. I got up and walked outside the tent, still in my pajamas, and saw that the sun was barely up. I checked my watch and it was barely 5 AM, I stretched and then I saw Edward and Elizabeth walking together.

"Hey Elizabeth, Edward!" I yelled out to them, hoping they would hear me.

They both turned their heads at the same time. Elizabeth smiled and waved as they both came over. "Hey Ella, what are you doing up so early?"

I yawned, "Ms. Okami says we have to leave early, as always. We are a bit behind after all. What about you two?"

"Couldn't sleep." Elizabeth answered simply. "By the way, Edward told me he bumped into you and Kira last night. Did you guys make it back to the tent ok?"

"Oh ya, we made it back fine. I just bumped into a tree and that's when we bumped into Edward."

"Ouch, you ok?'

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Oh and thanks again for helping me out last night, Edward"

"No problem." Edward answered.

"So, where's Kira?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, she's still sleeping as always." I said.

"Oh, I see. Well send Kira our regards, we better be heading off now. Bye Ella! We hope to see you around!" Elizabeth started walking off.

"Bye, Ella." Edward said as he followed behind his sister.

I then felt a presence behind me and turned around as I had a feeling it was Kira, "Hey sleepyhead."

Kira was still in her pajamas as she rubbed her eyes, "Hey, was that Edward and Elizabeth I heard?"

"Your hearing isn't so bad, after all. Ya, it was."

"Then thank goodness I came out later then I was supposed to. I wouldn't want them to see me like this." Kira walked back in the tent as she went to her side of the bed and started to rummage in her backpack.

"Hello? I was in my pajamas when I saw them and they didn't say anything." I went to my bedside and started to get some fresh clothes, but I didn't feel like taking a shower since I did last night, so I just started changing into new clothes. Don't worry, us wolves don't smell that bad without a shower for a day.

"They could have been thinking it." Kira pointed to her brain.

"Oh, shut up!" I threw my pillow at her and it hit her head. I giggled.

"Hey!" Kira threw the pillow back at me, but I managed to catch it. Wolves also have pretty good reflex skills. "I'm going to go take a shower now, want to come with?"

"Sure." I followed behind Kira, to the shower hall.

"This competition is getting pretty intense, huh?" Kira decided to bring this up.

"I know, right? I mean we've lost a couple of people already. I'm afraid to find out what's going to happen next." I shivered at the thought.

"I know what you mean, those vampires were pretty scary. Hey, isn't Darren a half vampire?" Kira asked.

"Ya, he is, but he doesn't drink human blood, well hardly anyways." I remembered Darren telling me this.

"Ah, I see. You wait out here. I won't take long." Kira walked inside the shower hall as I leaned on the rough wall of the shower hall. I closed my eyes and sighed.

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After a few minutes, I heard the door open and opened my eyes. It was Kira in new clothes. "Ah, that felt good. Come on, we should go now before Ms. Okami gets mad." Kira and I started walking back to our tent.

I almost forgot about Darren for a second, "Hey do you think Darren and Evra are still here?"

"They should be. Want to go check?" Kira asked.

"Sure. Better late then never." I followed Kira towards Darren's tent.

"Hmm..don't you think it's weird that we haven't had obstacles lately?" I brought up.

"Now that you mention it, that is a very good point. The last one we had were those vampires and that was about a week ago. Oh, we're here. Tent 1901"

I quickly went inside to find out that they already left, "Aww, man. They already left."

"How do you know?" Kira poked her head inside.

"Well, there are no belongings here and the beds are made and it looks like no one has stepped in here yet. Are you sure this is the right tent?" I asked Kira.

"Yes, I'm sure, Ella." Before we could say anymore, Ms. Okami's voice broke into our conversation.

"Oh, there you girls are. We're just about to leave. Come back to the tent and gather your things. I'll be waiting." Ms. Okami then left.

"Oh great, we're about to leave and I haven't seen Darren yet." I walked out of tent 1901 and headed back to our tent.

"Don't worry. They're fine and I'm sure we'll see them again soon." Kira ran to catch up to me.

"I hope so."

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Kira and I gathered our things as quickly as we can. I finished before Kira and sat on the bed to wait for Kira to finish.

"Ok, done. Let's do this." I got up off my bed and walked out of the tent with Kira by my side.

"Ok, we're ready, Ms. Okami. Where to next?"

Ms. Okami looked at the map, "Let's see…if we take the shortcut, we should end up in a town that's around 3 hours away."

"3 hours? Doesn't sound like a shortcut to me." Kira complained.

"Hey, don't complain, it's not as bad as getting here." I pointed out.

"True, it did take us around 5 to get here. Ok, well what are we waiting for? Let's go." Kira started walking and Ms. Okami and I followed behind her.

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3 hours later…

"Are we there yet?" Kira complained.

"Yes, we are, Kira. Look." Ms. Okami pointed out the town in front of us.

"Yay! Finally, some food. I've been starving." Kira ran into the town while looking around like a little kid looking for her favorite toy.

"Food? What happened to the food in your bag?" I asked suspiciously.

"Um..well…Look! A restaurant!" Kira ran towards the restaurant.

"Uh huh." I laughed and followed Kira into the restaurant.

When I reached the restaurant, I saw one of these soldier looking guys that got spilled a liquid type of drink on him, I sniffed the air. It smelled like tea.

"Hey, watch it!" The soldier pushed the waiter over as the waiter kept bowing his head and apologizing to the soldier.

"Hey! It wasn't his fault!" Kira stepped up to the soldier.

"Oh ya? Then who's fault was it?"

"It was mine and I didn't mean to bump into him."

"Well then, I think you owe me an apology, little girl."

"Little girl? Oh you really shouldn't have said that. Esmeralda!" I knew what Kira, well mostly Esmeralda, was capable of. Kira's dragon, Esmeralda, was part of her Cirque Du Freak act. Esmeralda crawled up onto Kira's shoulder and Kira nodded to the dragon. The dragon then breathed fire at the soldier and when the fire cleared, his eyebrows were gone.

Kira laughed, "That's what I'll do about it."

I couldn't help but laugh a little too, but then my laugh stopped once I saw the soldier grab Kira by her wrist.

"Hey, let me go!"

I hurried over to Kira and grabbed her other wrist, trying to pull her away from the soldier. "Let her go!"

"Another one of you punks? Oh ya? Make me." There were a few more soldiers that stepped up from behind him.

"No problem." My eyes turned black as my wolf instincts started to tap in. My wolf ears and tail came out and so did my fangs. I jumped on the soldier that grabbed Kira and slashed at his cheek. It left a bleeding scar.

"Why you little…" He punched me and I skidded across the floor.

Just then Ms. Okami and Crescent ran into the restaurant. "Ella!" She ran to my side as Crescent growled at the soldiers. "Are you o.k.?"

"Y-ya..I'm fine." I slowly stood up with the aid of Ms. Okami.

"What happened?" Ms. Okami was checking me for bruises just like my mother used to do when I fell or something.

"I'll explain later, we have to save Kira!"

"AHH! Help me, Ella, Ms. Okami!!" Kira screamed as she was being taken away by the soldier.

"Stop squirming, you brat!" The soldier with the scar yelled at her.

"Well, I wouldn't be squirming if you would let me go!" Kira always had a witty comeback, even in situations like these.

The soldier knocked her out and carried her to the horse.

I took a step forward and the soldiers took a step forward towards Ms. Okami, Crescent and I.

We were surrounded by them and we couldn't do anything except watch as my best friend got taken away.

Author's note: Hey guys/gals. I didn't realize it took me almost 4 months to get the next chapter in. I apologize about that, but the long wait is over. I'm not sure what to title this chapter, so I'll just leave it Untitled..heh. I hope you guys/gals enjoy this chapter and let's hope my writer's block goes away..heh. :]

P.S. Oh and when I do this ---------------- It means that a new scene has started since this thing won't let me double double space between each paragraph


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